A Tale as Old as Time
by LalaLisa23
Summary: Ariel never told anyone about the secret council. When she broke the rules, everything changed, including her whole world. Now in another life, Elena Williams knows there is something different about her. It will take secrets left behind by her mother and a mysterious boy to uncover the truth of who she is and the memories of her lost kingdom. *More Detailed Summary inside* EDITED!
1. Chapter 1

**A Tale as Old as Time**

_A/N: THIS IS NOT SOME STORY ABOUT A RANDOM MERMAID THAT I JUST THREW INTO THE LITTLE MERMAID SECTION, since I know people do that. This IS about the Little Mermaid, it just might not seem like it at first. _

_Here is a more detailed summary: Ariel never told anyone about her secret duty and the mysterious council that she was a part of. That all changes, along with the rest of her world when she breaks the ultimate rule, resulting in the destruction of everything she knows. In another life, Elena is a 16 year old sophomore who is trying desperately to cope with the loss of her mother who passed away six months ago under mysterious circumstances. That all changes when she meets Eric Bell, the cute and somehow vaguely familiar new senior who shows more than average interest in her and Elena's worries begin to fade with each day. But when she finds a mysterious locket encrypted with a secret message left behind by her mother, she begins to learn the truth about who she is and her lost past, not to mention how her mother and her newly found love fit into it all, and just how truly earth-shattering true love can be. _

"_**I don't know if you know who you are, until you lose who you are."**_

_**-Taylor Swift**_

**Prologue**

My memories are like a kaleidoscope of colors. They keep turning and turning until I can't remember who I was before this all started. And even though I can feel the real me, it's covered in layers and layers of lies and deceit. Even if I could turn away from it all right now, I would never be the same girl I was before.

The funny thing is, a year ago I would have pined for all of this, longing to be the hero for once in my life. Maybe everything would be okay if I could still feel his warm energy coursing through my veins like a wildfire.

It's silly to think that way, especially since he's gone, since they are all gone, but I try to remember the happy things. As I stand in the middle of the ballroom with only small torches to light the shadows, I remember those things.

I hold onto the memory of his eyes and the one fact I know to be true as the shadows draw closer and a single pair of menacing black eyes pierce me.

Our love is constant; and then I lunge for its throat.


	2. Chapter 2

**Part One**

In my dream, I was knee deep in sea water, and right in front of me was a single door. My logical side told me to look for whatever was supporting and making it stand up, but pure instinct told me to open it.

The sky above me was streaked with cotton candy pink and a warm orange that sent goose bumps running up my chilled arms.

Dreams are the one place where I don't question things, where I feel no doubt whatsoever. So without another moment's hesitation, I reached for the golden crafted knob with intricate and elegant designs. I was surprised to find it blazing hot, but I did not remove my hand and as I twisted it, a soft sea breeze rolled through my snarls of tangled hair.

Behind me, I could hear someone calling for me, only they weren't using my name. Somehow, despite them not using my name, I knew that they were speaking to me. Still, I ignored them and lightly pushed the door open, immediately I was engulfed in light.

My eyes snapped open as if I was slapped and instantly I was hit with a wall of cold air and the distinct smell of burnt waffles wafting through the house. That was already a sure sign that I should've just crawled back under the blankets and conserved the little warmth that was left.

"Elena!" A small blonde head appeared around the corner from my bathroom. "Where's your straightener? This bathroom is a mess!" Pounding music shrouded her voice in a sort of haze.

"That's why it's my bathroom and not yours." I mumbled into the blankets.

"What was that?" She cocked a perfectly manicured eyebrow at me.

Kicking my feet out from underneath the blanket I glared at her. "Eden, you _do_ know that the littlest sister is typically the one who steals from the older sister, not the other way around, right?"

Eden's expression was a challenge. "Don't start with me, Elena. It is way too early for that."

Eden was currently the oldest sister who still lived in the house but not the oldest out of all of us; that would be Eleanor. Eleanor was twenty two and in her final year of college. Then there was Eliza who was twenty one, Ella who was nineteen and Eloise who was eighteen and in her first year of college.

Then of course the sisters who still lived in the house starting with the _lovely_ Eden who was a senior in high school and eighteen years old followed by Elizabeth who was seventeen and a Junior. Last but never least was me, Elena, the youngest. I had been alive for sixteen years with warm auburn hair and sea green eyes just like my mother had, which was a total contrast from the rest of my sisters who took after my father with their blonde hair and blue eyes. They all looked stunningly similar to him while I got my looks from my mother.

The thought made me sick with anguish.

"You have your own bathroom, you know." I shouted at her over the blaring music as I shed my pajamas and reached for a fresh pair of jeans.

Most of what she said back was muffled over the music and I was only able to make out the words, "too small." I shrugged into my favorite grey sweater while my eyes unconsciously traveled to the picture on the bedside table.

"Morning Mom." I whispered as the bedroom door clicked open.

"EDEN!" Elizabeth stomped through my room without a sideways glance in my direction. Her hand pounded against the locked bathroom door. "You stole my makeup AGAIN! How many times do I have to tell you-"

"I can't hear you!" Eden shouted back through the door.

"Maybe if you turned the down the music you would be able to!" Elizabeth snapped, her face growing redder with each word and her hands balled up into fists at her sides.

"Breakfast is ready!" I heard my Dad shout up and I moved towards my bedroom door. I figured I'd have better luck with getting breakfast than with getting into my bathroom.

I thumped down the stairs as slowly as possible. Along the walls surrounding the stairs were pictures. The right side had baby pictures while the left side had the most recent school picture of us, both sides starting with the oldest at the top and the youngest at the bottom. So for Eleanor, Eliza, Ella, and Eloise their most recent pictures were their high school graduation pictures. Mom always loved pictures. At the bottom of the stairs was a wall that faced them. Half of that wall was taken up by a photo of my Mom and Dad. Once upon a time I knew that photo like the back of my hand. But right then, I dropped my gaze and kept going towards the kitchen.

The first thing I saw was a cloud of smoke billowing from the toaster.

"Dad what did you do?!" I shouted as I wrenched the kitchen window open. I waved the cloud toward the wintry November scene outside and silently prayed it wouldn't set off the fire alarm. Dad didn't respond, just looked at the cloud in disbelief.

When I finally shut the window and turned around, I saw my father in a chair at the dining room table, his head in his hands.

"I can't even make waffles without almost burning down the house." He mumbled and my heart panged at the sight of him. In the last few months his hair had gone positively grey. The lines on his face had grown deeper and though he tried to hide it, his face was constantly shrouded in darkness. Something inside of me crumpled, but instead of showing it, I pasted a cheerful smile on my face, just like I did every other day.

"Daddy," I said, kneeling in front of him, "You are so wonderful. Sure cooking isn't your strong point but thankfully, that's what you have me for." I smiled lovingly at him and I knew for a fact that it was not entirely a fake one this time. He grabbed one of my hands and squeezed it.

"I sure am lucky to have you, Elena." A smile peeked out from the bare plains of his face.

"I'll handle breakfast." I promised him, turning towards the kitchen and letting my cheerful outside demeanor drop.

"Your mother was always the cook of the family, not me. I guess it's just another way you take after her." He said absently. It stopped me in my tracks.

"Yeah I know." I whispered, afraid that speaking too loudly would reveal how much my voice wavered. We didn't speak after that and I prepared breakfast for my father and sisters. I had suddenly lost my appetite so I didn't make anything for myself. When my sisters finally came down the stairs arguing, I took the opportunity to finish getting ready for school in peace.

I stood in front of the mirror, not seeing anything. My auburn waves had been pulled into a loose braid that fell to my chest. Everything was done; teeth brushed, face washed, deodorant applied. Yet I stood there, waiting for a wave that would take me away; something that would have let me crawl back into bed and forget everything. But nothing did. In a few minutes I would move out the door and towards the stairs. I'd kiss my father goodbye on the cheek and get into my sister's car. I'd breathe without breathing at all. I'd smile without any meaning and nod my head. The way I was supposed to.

It had been six months, sixteen days, and four hours since my mother died. That thought stayed with me as I begun another day; as I rounded the corner to the dining room and I put the most convincing smile I could manage onto my face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part One: Chapter Two**

My sisters argued the entire way to school so I stuck my headphones in and looked out the window, not really seeing or hearing any of the things that rushed by. The drive to school took about twenty minutes. With only five minutes left, a searing pain rang through my thigh. I plucked the headphones out of my ears and looked up in time to see Elizabeth moving her hand away after having slapped me.

"Elena are you even listening?" Her face was a mask of disappointment.

"Sorry I wasn't paying attention." I gave her one of my most convincing smiles. "What were you saying?"

"We were talking about the new transfer student joining the school today. Amy did some research on him and told us that he is super cute and that he's a senior and…" Eden's voice gradually began to fade into the background; I was zoning again.

"Do you want to see a picture?" Elizabeth already had her phone out.

"No thanks, I'm not interested." I assured them both.

"Apparently he's really smart too! He's gotten accepted to a handful of Ivy League colleges and his SAT scores are outrageous." This caught my attention.

"Really? What were they?" I asked eagerly.

"I don't know the exact number, jeeze." Eden scoffed.

"Oh."

"I'm sure when we see him we can ask for you." Elizabeth offered, nudging Eden with her elbow.

"Sure." But my attention was already gone again. It had been becoming clearer each day that I needed all of the help I could get on my SAT's.

The school came into view so I stayed silent for the rest of the short ride. When Eden stopped the car I bolted.

"Don't you want to get some coffee together?" Elizabeth shouted after me.

I twisted to look back at them. "Cant. I have to speak to a teacher. Have a great day!" I layered on the enthusiasm before rushing through the school doors. I needed to get away from their relentless bickering. Plus the teacher thing wasn't a lie. There was one person I could always talk to when things got to be too much.

The hallways tended to become one great mass when I rushed. Left turn here, right turn there. I kept my goal in mind as I smiled and nodded at my 'friends' and continuously checked my phone for the time. Fifteen minutes was all I had.

I slowed down as I approached the H-wing hallway. The classroom I was headed for was the first door on the left.

Breathing in the familiar scent of salt, I took in my favorite place in the whole school. The desks were aligned in several lines and rows faced the blackboard and teacher's desk. In the back were work stations for lab, each with a small tank full of sea water and microorganisms in the center. The Marine Biology Lab had begun to feel more like home than my real home recently of late. Mrs. Shields looked up when I shut the door. She had brown curly hair that was always pulled into a tight ponytail. Her glasses were framed in thick black and she was wearing her usual white lab coat. Her face was beautiful with its light blue eyes and full lips; her perfectly sculpted nose and light sprinkle of freckles. She was gorgeous, but she tried so hard to hide it.

"Elena! What a pleasant surprise to see you so early in the morning. How are you?" Her young smile made my troubles bubble to the surface and out into the open air. I didn't say anything as I pulled her into a tight hug, needing her good energy.

"Oh dear, bad morning?" I nodded and buried my head into her shoulder. Mrs. Shields was not only my Marine Biology teacher, but she was also my Mom's best friend since first grade. She knew me as well as my Mom knew me. Now better than anyone else. Her and I both shared the same numb devastation when my mother passed away, but right then, as she squeezed me, I felt like my troubles could melt away. I let my eyes close. The second I did, the door to the teacher's Science lounge clicked open and a voice forced its way into our melancholic air.

"Mrs. Shields, do you think-." My eyes snapped open at the sound of a boy's voice and I pulled away from my Auntie Kate to see the boy gaping at the sight of us and our hug. "Sorry to interrupt." His expression gave away his desperate longing to leave the room.

He had short brown hair and the most devastatingly beautiful face I had ever seen. He had muscles that were evident under his black long sleeved shirt, but he wasn't super buff. He was also a good five inches taller than I was.

When he turned his eyes to mine it was like a spark of electricity ignited. They were ocean blue, deep and moving and captivating. I couldn't move my own eyes off of his and in that moment an image of clasped hands flashed through my mind followed by the echoing sound of crashing waves. It was like a forgotten memory that was just within my reach and then, like magic, it was gone. I looked away before all of my air was gone.

"That's alright, I'm glad your both here." Auntie Kate had a relaxed and carefree expression. "Eric, this is my Goddaughter Elena Williams. Elena, this is a new transfer student Eric Bell. He just moved here from California and will be in your Marine Biology class."

"It's nice to meet you." He reached for my hand and I couldn't help but have a moment's hesitation. For a few seconds, I just stared at his hand. He took a step closer and it felt like I was about to pass out from a lack of air. Especially if he came any closer than he already was.

"You too. Welcome to Ridgeview." I smiled what I hoped was a warm smile and took his hand to shake it. I instantly wished I hadn't. An electric shock charged through my arm and I fought the urge to pull back. Another image flashed through my head but it was too quick for me to comprehend. I could only make out one thing as I pull away.

"Elena is sixteen and a sophomore, Eric. But she's a genius when it comes to Marine Biology and of course-."

"I think that's enough about me." I insisted, stopping her from saying anything else.

"Nonsense, you are extremely talented, Elena, don't sell yourself short." She turned to Eric. "She has the loveliest singing voice too! It sounds like an angel choir."

"Well, Auntie Kate, I should probably get going to homeroom." My cheeks were fiery with heat and for some reason, I couldn't meet Eric's eyes.

"Oh, one more thing, Elena. I took the liberty of asking Eric to join our after school advanced class sessions. He also wants to pursue a career in Marine Biology and is just as advanced as you are. I think you two will get along quite well." Just like that my embarrassment fizzled out and was replaced with anger.

"You did?" I tried to keep a smile on my face, but it was extremely difficult.

"Yes. Now go on both of you or you'll be late for homeroom."

"See ya later, Auntie," I mumbled. Eric followed me as I pushed the door open. I couldn't even look at him without wanting to punch him. Then again, looking at him also made me fuzzy and confused. Those after school sessions were meant for me. They were my only alone time with Auntie. Who did this guy think he was just waltzing in like some big shot? He couldn't possibly be that smart.

"Do you know where E-7 is?" He asked this almost sheepishly and I couldn't help the sigh that escaped my throat. My homeroom. Who would've guessed? Time for the fake façade to take charge once again.

"Well actually," I began but he cut me off.

"Listen, I realize how awkward that was back there. So maybe we should start over." He suggested, stopping in his tracks to look me in the eye. The same spark shivered through my bones.

My resolve faded at once and the smile that spread along my face was for once, real. "I'd love that."

"My name is Eric Bell. I just moved here from California. I've been told that I'm a genius. I was five points away from a perfect score on the standard SAT's but I _did_ get a perfect score on the Science and Math SAT's. When I grow up I want to be a Marine Biologist because I think there is still so much we haven't discovered about the sea. Im eighteen and currently a senior." His voice was calculating, yet casual as we walked slowly down the hall together. I couldn't help but laugh and he smiled while waiting for my response.

"My name is Elena Williams. I've lived in Denver my whole life. I love the snow, but not as much as I love going to the beach, especially in winter. I've been told I am a genius in Marine Biology but not in anything else and that is why I am in the highest available course but only a sophomore. I hope to pursue a career in Marine Biology one day for all of the same reasons but that requires me passing my SAT's first which at the moment doesn't have the brightest outlook. And, call it coincidence, but we have homeroom together." I was slightly short of breath when I finished and he stopped to look at me.

"Really?"

"Unfortunately." I didn't mean to say it, but it came out anyway.

"You don't like me very much do you?" Something in his expression told me that the thought made him sad.

"No, I think you're nice." Insert fake smile here. "I just always look forward to my alone time with my Godmother, that's all. Don't take it personally."

"I probably shouldn't impose on you two then." That time his remark had a slight layer of sarcasm.

"No," I stopped in front of my, our homeroom, "I don't mind. Really."

"That's a lie." He stared at me as he said it. He was calling my bluff. Before I could say anything in return, the bell rang. I kept my gaze away from his and headed into homeroom, sitting in an empty seat in the back with all of the seats surrounding it filled.

A few seconds later he strode in, stirring up whispers from every girl in the room, and sat in a seat at the very front, not once glancing in my direction. While I sat listening to the announcements and the teacher taking attendance, I couldn't help the way my eyes kept finding their way back to him.

I remembered the feel of his hand in mine and traced the lines on my palm where I felt the brunt of the electric shocks. I am reminded once more of the one thing that popped into my mind at his touch. A name. Ariel.

_**Okay so obviously, I know nothing at all about Marine Biology. I tried my best to make it sound realistic but in truth, probably nothing about the Marine Biology Lab makes sense. I just thought it would be like a good underlying hint for things to come. Haha! Anyway I just wanted to say, it blows me away that I have had this story up for a total of twenty four hours and I already have a review and three followers. So here is a shoutout to TrinaAngel, the girl with a silver eye and ForeverYoungInDisney. **_

_**ForeverYoungInDisney: Thank you so much for the review! It was such a nice thing to wake up to this morning, especially since today was my first day back at school after break. I'm glad you like the story so far and I hope I do Ariel justice! (:**_

_**To anyone else who is reading this, I see the traffic on this story and I want you to know I love ALL feedback. Good, bad and everything in between. As long as its constructive I am all for it! You have no idea how crazily I wait at my email to see if anyone reviewed or followed. So as always Rate and Review! **_

_**Cheers!**_

_**Xxx**_

_**LalaLisa23 (:**_hapter Two

**T**jgbyhvyvvjhu..


	4. Chapter 4

**Part One: Chapter Three**

I tried, unsuccessfully I admit, for the whole first half of the day not to think of those ocean-like sapphire blue eyes. I still couldn't shake the feeling that they were somehow familiar in the way they held mine; as if they had done so before. When the lunch bell rang it was all I could do not to shove people out of my way, wanting nothing more than a moment to myself. I didn't breathe until I was sitting on the school roof, finally alone.

The lack of breakfast made my tummy grumble so I crammed a quarter of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich into my mouth.

The roof wasn't totally off-limits, but let's just say I was the only one that went up there, and when I did, I stayed out of sight. From the top, I could see the parking lot that connected the North and South building and the school fields. That wasn't the reason I always stayed up there, though. From the roof, I could just make out the city skyline, which was about twenty-five miles away. Dad always said that it was dangerous to live in the city, which is why we lived in this secluded town just outside of Denver. I couldn't help but feel like there was so much more to this world than this little dive of a tourist trap town. All of those people in the city had so much ahead of them, and here I was trapped on a school roof, waiting anxiously to wander the world. Mom always agreed with me, but Dad never understood. I bet you the people in the city would understand.

For most people at Ridgeview, November was always the month where they would begin to stop eating outside, but I always enjoyed the quiet solitude of snow and cold. I guess that's sort of a contradiction next to my distaste for our secluded town.

I crammed another sandwich quarter into my mouth and the peanut butter glued it shut, making it impossible for me to speak. In the background I could hear the grumbling crunch of footsteps through packed snow, but I just shove another sandwich quarter into my mouth.

The door to the roof suddenly swung open and I couldn't help but choking on the globs of sandwich in my mouth in surprise.

"Elena?" I looked up to see Eric standing in the dim light of the roof, his eyebrow arched in interest at the sight of me. I tried to say something, but I couldn't without having to reach for a bottle of water and when I was finally able to speak again I looked over to see Eric taking a seat five feet away. I swallowed hard with a gulp of water and fought back a choking laugh.

"You okay?" There was laughter in his eyes.

"What are you doing up here?" I didn't bother to answer.

"I could ask the same thing of you." He wouldn't hold back his laughter anymore, letting it roll through his features. Turning away, embarrassment was etched deeply into my cheeks. We stayed like this for a while; him laughing and me turned away, eating in silence.

"Are you done?" I asked impatiently after five minutes had gone by and he had gone in and out of laughter about sixty times. His smile faded at the sight of my obvious annoyance. For some stupid reason, my heart ached as I watched the easygoing light leave his eyes. Why did it feel like I cared so much about someone I literally met three hours ago?

Before he could reply, the door to the roof clicked open again and a familiar face rounded the corner.

"Brody?" I breathed, almost relived for a second but then wishing I wasn't. "What's up?" Brody was one of those really tall, gangly guys. Completely different from Eric's tall and muscular build. He had sandy brown hair and dark brown eyes.

"There you are Elena! I've been looking all over for you! Did you forget about today?" Brody's tone was urgent, like the world was on the verge of ending.

"Today…?" I looked away, searching my mind and then it hit me. "Shoot!" I exclaimed, not bothering to look at Eric who was the source of all of my mental disorganization. It's corny, but at the time I was part of the Ridgeview High School Show Choir. That weekend was our first competition of the season and we were meant to have a rehearsal during lunch. My legs pushed me to stand up and I couldn't help the apologetic tone that dripped from my words.

"Brody I'm so sorry, we'll still have some time if we go now." My stupidity made me forget to say something to Eric as I began through the door. I threw him a somewhat apologetic look. There was a question in his eyes, but I painfully turned away and followed Brody down the steps to the main hallway. There was regret in every step.

"Who was that guy?" Brody was never able to hide his jealousy very well.

"Eric Bell, just transferred from California." I tried hard to sound absent when in actuality, my every thought in the last few hours had revolved around him.

"Why was he hanging around with you?" I smiled and tried to bite back a laugh. It was no secret how Brody felt about me. Not that I'm trying to sound conceded but he was extremely obvious with his feelings and plus by that time he had asked me out twice already. And although he was sweet, he himself had a conceded trait to him.

"I told you, he's new. I was trying to be nice." He wouldn't say anything else as we shuffled into the auditorium. The choral director, Mr. Schwartz was directing some others in the choir who blatantly turned to stare as we entered.

"You're late, Elena." Mr. Schwartz didn't look up as he said this. My throat tightened sheepishly. "Run it from the beginning of our set." Wordlessly I got onto stage and began. I couldn't focus as I sang. The words came out but they all ran together in a blur. I couldn't help the disappointment I felt at losing my lunch time, and no matter what my feelings told me, I tried hard not to be disappointed to leave him. I couldn't be.

When the bell finally rang, I rushed out before Mr. Schwartz could say anything about my tardiness. My next class was Marine Biology.

The auditorium was so far away from the H-Wing hallway that it took me almost all of my four minutes to get there and when I did, I was one of the last to arrive. Nonchalantly, I let my eyes glance over the rows of students as I moved towards my seat in the front on the right side. I kept telling myself that I was just glancing casually, but in my heart I knew I was looking for someone in particular.

I took my seat silently and after a few minutes, I looked to my peripheral vision.

It was then that I saw a small motion in the very corner of my eye and I turned reflexively toward it. Sure enough, it was Eric in the back of the room, three columns over waving at me. I quickly turned back to the front, amazed that no matter how many times I shot him down, he didn't falter.

It was a lab day. While Auntie Kate explained this week's lab, I tried to lock eyes with my usual lab partner; Andy. He was Eden's boyfriend and the only friend I had in this class since all of my "friends" were in the lower class. As usual, he was staring at his phone in his lap while texting away. I was 99% sure he was talking to Eden. When Andy finally looked up, he smiled at me and nodded. My muscles had become tense in the last few minutes while I worried anxiously about what would happen if I didn't have a partner, but they relaxed at his reassuring smile.

It took a few minutes to realize that I was stealing sidelong glances at Eric. He never caught me, and if he did, he didn't show it. His focus was Auntie Kate and the instructions of the lab. I allowed my mind to travel, wondering who would be his partner. Most likely every girl would give up their usual partner to be his.

When Auntie Kate dismissed us, I stood up and searched for Andy through the thick of the crowd. I started towards our lab table in the back when I saw him already pulling supplies out from underneath the table cabinets.

"I'm so glad I finally caught your attention, I thought I was on the verge of not having a partner." I let out a breath of relief that I hadn't realized I had been holding in. Andy flashed a warm smile.

"I'd never let you go partner less, Elena." He worked while replying, setting up the table.

"So, what's up with Eden now?"

"She's mad at me again." He sighed, sounding defeated. I almost didn't hear him since at that exact moment, Christina was making a home at the other side of our table with her partner; Eric. He caught me staring and looked curiously back at me and Andy.

"What else is new? What did you do this time Andy?" My tone was facetious and I tried to make myself busy while looking at Andy. He let out another sigh.

"She's upset because I don't think I should have to ask her to prom in some big ridiculous way if it's already a given that we're going together." As he said this, he poured some liquid into a beaker.

"Oh no." I layered on the dramatics.

"What?" He asked anxiously.

"First of all, you should _never_ ask _any_ girl that question. Second of all, you should _never, ever_ ask _Eden_ that question. She's probably never going to speak to you again."

His face was deformed with alarm. "Aw man." His groan was enough to make me giggle; Andy loved Eden so much.

"Lucky for you, I know exactly how Eden wants to be asked to prom, and I'm willing to share in return for not having to do any of this lab today." At this, Andy swept me up into a big bear hug and said, "Elena, you're the best! Done." Andy was always the big brother that I never got to have.

"Happy to help." I smiled, leaning on the table, and watching Andy work.

He was babbling now, "When Eden and I get married I'm going to need you around all the time to tell me what not to do."

"In case you're listening and are super confused, Eden is one of Elena's many sisters." Christine whispered rather loudly to Eric. Andy and I stared at them.

"Sorry." Eric's hand went up in apology.

"No it's cool. Eric, right? I'm Andy." Andy reached out his hand and they shook.

"Enough yapping and get to work people!" Auntie Kate exclaimed. For ten minutes we worked in silence, only exchanging words regarding the lab.

Andy cursed suddenly and I looked up to see what he'd done wrong, but he was staring at his phone again.

"Did she give you an ultimatum again?" Eden was famous for those.

"What do you think?" A third sigh.

"Does she want you to ditch school or class?"

"School."

"That's tough." I replied, wondering if he would really leave for Eden. I wouldn't blame him if he blew her off, but he gave me an apologetic look and I knew his answer.

"It's fine. Go. The princess is waiting."

"You're the best, Elena. I owe you one." He squeezed my shoulder before slipping out of the room when Auntie Kate wasn't looking.

"You guys are really close." Christine observed.

I nodded. "He's like my brother."

We didn't talk for the rest of the double period.

I watched every single pair of legs that filtered out of the room, waiting for the moment when I would finally be alone to confide in Auntie Kate.

I strolled into the back room after the last student had left. "What a day!" I breathed. Auntie Kate was sitting in a chair, munching on a granola bar and grading papers. I sat in the chair across from her.

"I could tell it was one of those days." She said, looking up from her papers and winking at me. "Although I'm not so sure it was the day as much as the someone."

Choking on the piece of granola bar I had stolen I tried to laugh and said, "Whaddya mean?"

"Don't try to be coy. I saw how you were looking at him."

"Because I was infuriated not only by how superior he thought he was but also that I couldn't seem to find one single moment today where he wasn't popping up out of the blue." My tone was defiant, in denial as Auntie would say. Auntie Kate wiggled her eyebrows before taking a large bite of granola.

"Whatever you say…I think you two are a match made in heaven."

My palms were all of a sudden covered in sweat and my heart raced at the thought. I had to struggle to keep my breathing even. "Where is he anyway?"

"He said he would be back in a few minutes after he spoke to one of his other teachers." She started to search through her bag. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you all day but things have been kind of hectic." She said meaningfully. "I thought I put it in here."

"What's up?" I asked, tossing a pen in the air. Auntie Kate got up from her seat and pulled a shoebox off of the shelf before sitting back down. The lid of the shoebox was covered with old stickers and decals that had faded with time and wear. There were hand drawn doodles and little notes that said things like 'I love you!' and 'Don't forget!' in all different colors of pen and marker in all different fonts. On the sides were laminated pictures of my mom and Auntie Kate; ranging from five years old all the way up to college.

"What is this?" It came out as a strangled whisper. Auntie Kate was roaming the outside of the box lovingly with her eyes. She took a deep breath before answering.

"When your mom and I were growing up, we spent 90% of our time together. So many memories, so much laughter; we didn't want to forget any of it, but because there were so many, it was hard to remember it all. So we decided any time there was a memory or laugh worth saving, we would find something to remember it by and put it into the box. Then once a year we would go through every single memory together, to refresh our minds." Recounting the story made her eyes water.

I gingerly reached for the box, lifting the lid with caution. There were slips of paper, food wrappers and tickets that filled the box to its brim; toy rings and bottle caps and paper hats. Each thing had a date scribbled on it and a few words. There was so much of my Mom in that box, I was almost afraid to touch it, thinking it might disappear the way she had.

Auntie Kate pulled a small bubble gum wrapper off the top and handed it to me. "That's a really good one." It was an old-fashioned Double Bubble wrapper. I flipped it over and on the back was a date and some words.

"July 19th, 1983. It says 'shelves and date'" Confusion prickled inside of me. "You guys were finished high school that summer, right?"

"Right. That day, your Mom and I decided to walk down the street to the convenience store. The cashier who worked there had had a crush on your mom for the longest time, and he was super cute too!"

"How did you know he had a crush on her?"

"Oh it was plain and easy to see. Whenever she talked to him, he would stumble over his words and rub the back of his head; always trying to act cool. This day we wanted Slurpees and gum and while we were wandering around looking, he came over and asked if we needed any help. He leaned on the shelf and the whole thing collapsed under his weight. Your mom and I couldn't stop laughing while his manager came over and all but fired him. Our stomachs hurt so bad from laughing that by the time we were done, we didn't want our Slurpees anymore." Auntie Kate giggled at the memory. "After his manager had left to get a broom he was saying something like 'Well it can't get much worse than this.' and then he stammered out a question; he finally got up the courage to ask your mom out on a date. She pulled out a bubblegum wrapper she had in her pocket and wrote down her number. It was so cute."

"And? What happened?!" I asked eagerly.

"Well, something must have gone right, since they got married and had seven beautiful little girls."

"It was my Dad." I breathed in awe.

"It was." She closed her eyes, letting that memory take her back. "I wanted to show you this box, so that anytime you were having a bad day you could pick a new memory from the box and we could talk about it together. That way it feels like your Mom is still here." Her words left a tinge of sadness that lingered.

I covered her hand with mine. "Thank you." I told her earnestly.

"Yes well that was my intention, but then I found something. You know how your mother always seemed to have that sort of sixth sense? Like she knew what was going to happen before it did? When I opened this box yesterday, I found something that didn't quite belong." Her smile was its usual mischievous one as she pulled a thick manila envelope from her bag. "This is for you."

"What is it?" My fingers wrapped gently around the paper. My name was written on the front and, my breathing hitched, it was written in my mother's unmistakable handwriting. "Is this…?"

"I think it is. She must've known that I would eventually show you the box. Sixth sense I tell you." She mumbled the last part.

"What do you suppose…" I trailed off once more.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I do know that your mother had a reason for every single thing she did. I also know that she would probably want you to open that alone." She looked pointedly at the envelope.

Before I could say anything, the door swung open and Eric's ocean blue eyes were peering in at us.

"Sorry. I hope you guys weren't waiting for me." He stood awkwardly at a distance.

"No absolutely not. Elena usually takes twenty minutes to wind down anyway." I nodded absent-mindedly, too focused on the mysterious contents of the unopened envelope. "How did your first say go?"

"Great, I met a lot of really nice people." My eyes narrowed at him and a cocky smile lit the corners of his mouth. For the first time that day, I was too tired to put up walls and I smiled warmly back, because that was exactly how he made me feel. What did I not like about this guy again?

He seemed taken aback by my sudden friendliness.

"What should we work on today, kiddies?" Auntie Kate shuffled through her stacks of paper while Eric took her seat across from mine.

"Do you know anyone named Ariel?" I blurted out without thinking. Mentally cursing myself I covered my face with my hair but not before seeing his look of confusion.

"I don't think so. The name is familiar but, no, I don't know anyone. Why?"

"Just wondering." I replied, thinking again about those images that popped through my head each time we touched. He continued to look perplexed but didn't pursue the subject.

"You're like a totally different person." He observed, leaning forward to put his elbows on the table. He was inches away.

"Sometimes I get tired." That was all I offered, leaning away, trying to ignore the feelings that surfaced to the tips of my brain.

"I think," He whispered, leaning even farther forward, "I think you actually like me and your just being mean 'cuz you know I'm better at Marine Biology than you are." It was a challenge. Oh yeah, that's what I didn't like about him.

My laugh was short and curt. "Yeah Okay."

"Really."

"You must be joking!" I laughed for real. He just smirked. "You're on."

_**HELLO FRIENDS! YES I AM STILL ALIVE AND BREATHING. **_

_**I'm so sorry its been so long but I honestly knew this would happen. Trying to keep up with a leisure activity such as writing during the school year is just too difficult since there are days when I can't even seem to keep up with sleep. But now that summer is here once again I do plan to update regularly and I would like to give a special thank you to any and all of you who stuck with me all of this time and to those who couldn't find the strength to keep waiting, I understand where you're coming from and I thank you for being a part of this story in its early points and I love you for your support. **_

_**Second thing is, before I did this update I went back and edited what was already on here. Really no major edits. The two biggest things I did was change the summary to make the story more appealing and the HUGE thing I did was change the story from first person, present tense to first person, past tense. I wanted to try my hand at present tense since Suzanne Collins was able to do it so well, but it only took me three chapters to decide it wasn't for me. But all of my journal entries for this story up to this point are written in the present tense so I just ask that you bear with me as I try to make the switch since its really difficult to make sure its all grammatically correct, for me at least. **_

_**Okay so:**_

_**Masked rose: THANK YOU! And wow I am a jerk for not continuing! Sorry it took so long! Hope you like this new chapter!**_

_**Littlemermaidwannabe: Seriously the fact that you re-read it makes me love you like I love sparkles, because I know that for me to reread something, I have to REALLY love it. Thank you so much!**_

_**Guest: Sorry I kept you waiting so long! Thank you for reading and reviewing, it means so much to me! **_

_**Bitchitude: Thank you! I will try my best to not make it too fluffy, but I'm not gonna lie, I'm a sucker for fluff!**_

_**Thank you and sorry about how long this is! **_

_**Until tomorrow,**_

_**Xxx**_

_**LalaLisa23**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Part One: Chapter Four**

Auntie Kate gave me and Eric ten ridiculously hard questions to do to see who could finish first with all of the right answers. I finished first naturally.

"Okay you were right." He chuckled, opening and closing his right hand which was sore from the excessive writing.

"Of course I was." I bit my lip and smiled up from underneath my lashes at him, not realizing how flirty that must have seemed. He stared at me with a half smile.

"Shoot!" Our heads snapped in the direction of Auntie Kate's voice. She was staring at her phone.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Ted." Her husband. "I have to pick him up from work! I totally forgot!" Auntie was even more of a scatterbrain than me.

"Is his car still in the shop?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry Elena I can't take you home." She looked torn; stuck between her husband and me.

"It's fine, Auntie, I'll call Eden." I left out the part about her ditching school and most likely still being with Andy.

"I can drive you home if you want?" Eric's voice was cautious, testing the waters.

"Oh please!" Auntie Kate exclaimed. "Eden can sometimes be a little unreliable, and I'd hate for Elena to have to walk home in this weather." She seemed relieved at Eric's volunteering.

"Are you sure?" I asked him. I buried the emotion that was afraid he would change his mind and tried really hard to make it seem irrelevant.

"Absolutely." Not a second's hesitation.

"Alright kiddies, I'll see you tomorrow." Auntie Kate was already out the door before we could return the sentiment.

Eric and I put on our coats and gathered our stuff before heading towards the parking lot.

"Which one is yours?"

"The crappy scion." He answered and a choked, strangled laugh escaped my lips. I couldn't stop laughing until he went and said, "Your laugh is really nice and infectious." That shut me up. I kept my face neutral and mumbled a thanks as I climbed into the passenger seat.

"So can I ask you something?" He asked as we started pulling out of the parking lot and down the street. I told him where to turn.

"Depends on what the something is."

"Why did you _really _ask me if I knew someone Ariel?"

"The blush that crept up my neck was deep and hot. "Well…I don't think I can answer that."

"Why?" He glanced at me.

I didn't say anything, just looked out the window.

"I swear I won't laugh." Even as he said it he couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his throat.

I just ignored him, and tried to ignore the way my heart was beating so loud; the thought that he might hear it terrified me. Thank goodness we pulled up to my house when we did.

"Well thanks. I really appreciate not having to walk home."

"Anytime." A sidelong glance allowed me a few seconds to soak up his beautiful smile. I reached for the door handle, but it wasn't open.

"Oh, I forgot that you can't open it from the inside." He unlocked his seat belt and jumped out of the car. He wrenched the door open and held out his hand. Reluctantly I took it and that same spark ran from the tips of my fingers through every inch of my body. I held in my gasp while I witnessed more pictures that moved too fast to decipher. I did, however, stumble forward out of the car and almost in his arms like in the movies.

I caught myself before that happened.

"You okay?" He breathed, his hand still holding mine. The longer he held it, the slower the pictures moved, but they were still blurry.

"Yup." Each second that ticked by made the pictures clearer, so why did I pull my hand away?

"Thanks again." I smiled, and turned to walk up the path. I looked back in time to see him wave from the car before driving away. As he drove, my heart sank.

"Did Auntie Kate get a new car?" Elizabeth asked about two seconds after I walked in the door.

"That wasn't her." I replied, yanking my shoes off and tossing them to the corner.

"Who was it then?" She grabbed onto my arm like a puppy, anxious.

"That new guy; Eric Bell." The way it came out of my mouth was almost sheepish. I shrugged my shoulders for good measure.

"What?" She shrieked. "How? Why? I thought you weren't interested!" She was following me around now, waiting for a response. I gulped down a bottle of water from the fridge.

"Was that who you guys were talking about in the car this morning?"

"Yes!"

"Oh,"

"So?!"

I sighed, "Well, he joined my extra marine biology courses after school with Auntie Kate. Auntie Kate had to leave out of the blue so he said he would give me a ride."

Elizabeth looked frantic. "What's he like?"

I wrinkled my nose, "Nice, smart; too smart for his own good actually. Handsome. You know, everything everyone described him as." I tried to sound nonchalant. Elizabeth looked hungry for more information so I did my best to change the subject. "Where is everyone?"

"Eden is still out with Andy since they ditched halfway through the day."

"I'm aware."

Elizabeth laughed, "Glad to see I'm not the only one who disapproves. Dad called a little while ago and said he's not gonna be home til super late so he left us money to order something. What do you want? I think Eden and Andy are coming back for dinner." I was about to tell her how I wasn't hungry and that she could just pick and then retire to my room for the rest of the night; and then I saw her face. No doubt Elizabeth was contemplating the idea that she might be eating alone and there was a small note of loneliness in her eyes. She had been alone all afternoon.

"Feel like Chinese?" I smiled and returned it with her own broad smile.

"You read my mind! Your usual?" She asked, reaching for the phone.

"Sounds good. I'm gonna go work on some homework upstairs; call me when it gets here." Elizabeth was nodding absent-mindedly.

Before I trudged up the steps, I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and sent Eden a somewhat hostile text telling her to get home. When I finished, I silenced the phone so that I wouldn't have to be disappointed.

After my door was safely shut and locked and I had arranged myself comfortably on my bed, I pulled the envelope from my backpack and fell back onto my pillows. I held it up above my head, memorizing the curvy lines of my Mom's handwriting.

The envelope was sealed shut with an adhesive that took all of my strength to open without ripping the paper. The shallow breaths of anticipation came without any effort. Tentatively, I stuck my hand in and let my fingers curl around a delicate piece of paper. When I pulled it out, a wall of Rosemary hit me and spread through my chest like a warm comforting cloud.

It was my mother's stationary, spritzed with her perfume. It was the way she always left notes. Gingerly, I opened the note.

**_My Dearest Elena,_**

**_If you're reading this, I must assume the worst. I am so sorry to have left the world on your shoulders, Elena, but I know how brave and strong you are and I've told myself that you will be alright._**

**_Elena, I know how many questions you must have and how in the dark you must feel. There isn't much I can tell you, that's what your journey is for, but I can tell you that you are more special than you could have ever imagined and you are destined for great things. Things out of this world._**

**_To start you on your path I have left you this locket. It will guide you no matter where you are and will serve as your light in the dark. Wear it always._**

**_Remember Elena, always follow your heart._**

**_I am always with you._**

**_Mom_**

**_P.S. Say hello to Auntie Kate and our shoebox for me! (:_**

My mouth had gone dry as my eyes took in the words. Instantly, I reached in the envelope and felt my fingers close are something wooden.

It was a small wooden box that fit perfectly in the palm of my hand. Intricate carvings elegantly littered the top half of it and a single 'A' took up most of the lid.

I had to stop myself before I lifted the lid. My head spun from all of the information. Why had she left this behind? And why had I not known about it before? Tear welled up in the corners of my eyes. Why now?

Yet, I disregarded all of my fears and finally lifted the lid. Deep pink silk served as a cushion for the golden trinket hidden inside. On the inside of the lid a single word was carved. 'Rosea'

Hanging from a thin, delicately woven chain was a quarter sized oval golden locket; so slim and elegant that I was almost afraid to touch it. Embossed in curly cues and swirls, the rim was set with tiny, barely visible diamonds and in the center a perfectly round pink gem; a tourmaline; my birthstone. It sparkled brightly as it caught the light.

"So beautiful." I breathed. With careful fingers, I tried to pry the thing open, but it was stuck, refusing to budge. For a few minutes, I considered getting pliers but eventually decided against it, not wanting to do anything that would harm it. In the process of trying one last, futile attempt to open it, my fingers caught the back of the locket which was bumpy. I flipped it over.

In a lovely and almost magical script, the name 'Ariel' was written. I almost threw the locket across the room.

"What is happening?" I said this aloud without realizing it and then jumped at the sound of a knock at my door.

"Elena, food's here! So are Eden and Andy!" Elizabeth called through the door.

"Alright I'll be down in a few minutes." I called back, already stuffing the note and the wooden box back into the envelope before shoving it under my bed. Though the name on the back scared me half to death, I didn't put the locket away.

As I unclasped the clasp and put the chain around my neck carefully, I realized something. These things, that name, they were appearing for a reason. There was something that was about to happen and my Mom wanted me to be a part of it. And even if that scared me more than I was willing to admit, for God's sakes I would be a part of it. My mother had left me this locket and with it the gift of an adventure.

Now I just had to get through dinner.

_**I'm hoping these chapters aren't too slow. I'm trying really hard to get through the slow stuff so that I can get to the adventure part, but I know its taking a while. **_

_**As always, Rate and Review!**_

_**Until Tomorrow! **_

_**Xxx**_

_**LalaLisa23**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Part One: Chapter Five**

My vision was tunneled and excluded to a single scene of a castle with flags that whipped in the breeze. "You're father is gonna furious; I won't be surprised if he has my head for dinner!" An unfamiliar and yet somehow familiar voice fretted. I couldn't look around for the voice, though, my vision glued to that single spot.

"Oh please, don't you think you're being a little melodramatic?" I knew that was my voice, but I didn't say the words. Confusion seeped through me. The other voice harrumphed in disagreement, but didn't press me. After a beat, I spoke again. "I just, I just don't understand how a world that makes such wonderful things, could be bad." There was a tinge of sadness, yearning and desperation in my voice.

"Ariel, aren't you supposed to meet with the others today?" There was that name again, it made panic settle in my chest.

"Oh no; Daddy's gonna kill me!" The castle in front of me was all of a sudden submerged in sea water; a quiet, breathless sight.

I woke gasping for air and thrashing in my blankets. Sitting up, I breathed heavily and clutched the locket that was still around my neck, letting the cool metal soothe me until my breaths became regular again. My eyes adjusted in time to see the disturbing scene in front of me.

My windows were wide open, the curtains drawn, and black smog was rolling through in buckets. It filled my little room like a contagion, spreading to every corner and shrouding the place in shadows.

Suddenly, it was harder to breathe than in my dreams, the black tendrils choking me and making it impossible to see. Head spinning, I clutched the walls, groping for the light switch that would turn on the fan. It helped little, and the smog continued to filter into my room from the window. I was so dizzy, that the only way I could seem to find the window was by crawling to it. The screech the window made as I wrenched it down only disoriented me further and without the open air, I felt as if I was going to suffocate. I sunk down quietly to the ground, pretty much giving in.

Then the door swung open and I looked weakly up to see Eden stomping through my bedroom to the bathroom; the smog had disappeared into thin air. Gone just as quickly as it had come. I took a huge gulp of air and experienced the worst cough I could have ever imagined. It racked my throat as I tried to clear it of the black, seemingly venomous clouds.

"Jesus, Elena, get up off the floor and pull yourself together." Eden ordered before locking the bathroom door.

"Morning." I yawned. Pulling the envelope out from underneath my bed I reread my Mom's note for the hundredth time. My heart rate finally slowed down to a steady pulse and my head was able to think clearly again. I coughed again, feeling like the virus wasn't completely gone, my head still not quite right.

My hands gripped tight to my bag as I weaved my way through the hallways. It felt like I was having an out of body experience, like I could see myself walking but couldn't actually feel it. The dull ache in my brain screamed to be heard.

I had a peculiar feeling that Auntie Kate would know what was going on.

Bursting through the lab door and then thrusting the staff lounge door open, I called for Auntie Kate.

"Where's the fire? Oh honey you look awful." Auntie Kate asked, leaning forward in her chair and taking a deep sip of her coffee, looking me over. I didn't answer; just pulled out the envelope and held it up for her to see. Her brow wrinkled in confusion.

"Auntie Kate, what is going on?"

"Elena, actually…" Her eyes held the corner of the room to which my back was turned.

"Auntie this is serious." I recited both dreams to her in great detail, taking a seat and making sure to emphasize the name. I explained what happened when I met Eric, how there were all sorts of pictures that exploded into my head the second we touched or sometimes even when I looked in his eyes and that the name was always pulsing in the background like a drum.

"Are you sure you weren't just imagining it because of the dream?" Auntie Kate was in disbelief.

"That's what I thought too, and then you gave me this," I held up the envelope, "My Mom left me this locket and a note." I pulled the note out and pointed to my locket. "On the back of this, well, just look." I flipped it over and let her examine the elegant script. Auntie stayed quiet.

"I've been reading this letter over and over again and something about it just feels strange. It feels too scripted and," I paused, about to tell her about the black threatening smog that leaked into my room. Something in me told me I should keep that to myself, "and the Post Scriptum line is just, weird."

Auntie Kate scanned the letter silently with her eyes, not even flinching when a head ringing crash from behind me made me snap my head in its direction. My eyes went wide, my heart rate shot up and a blush crept up my neck as I saw Eric surrounded by papers in the corner of the room Auntie Kate had been so preoccupied with when I first walked in.

"Oh dear Eric, poor boy. Elena go help him while I finish reading this." He had been there the whole time, heard every nearly insane thing I had said; including the stuff about him. My blush deepened as I bent to pick up some papers.

At first, I didn't want to say anything; and then courage peaked inside of me. I was planning on commenting about him eavesdropping but when I opened my mouth to speak, it was like something was strangling my voice, not letting it come out.

"I'm sorry, I didn't, uh, I mean, I tried not to listen." He searched my face for the anger that had been so clearly evident yesterday but I just smiled, unable to say anything. His sea green eyes met mine, but I looked away before I could see anything and we finished cleaning up in silence.

"Elena, I'm not sure what to tell you about this." I straightened and saw Auntie's disgruntled expression. "I have no idea what this is about." My heart sank and I sat in my usual seat, Eric taking a seat from somewhere else and pulling it up to the table. When I looked at Auntie Kate, the fog that seemed to be all over me lifted and I found my voice again.

"You know how my Mom was, always trying to make people read between the lines. I know she mentioned you for a reason." Desperation was an understatement when one described me at that moment.

"May I?" Eric asked, gesturing to the note. My hand was ready to stop him; to keep it a secret between Auntie and Mom and me. But something, locked deep in the back of my mind told me differently. It screamed to let him be a part of all of this. So I nodded, but as I did so, it was like two opposing forces trying to do two different things.

"What's the shoebox thing about?" He asked when he was finished reading.

"It was a shoebox of memories that my Mom and Auntie Kate kept. It was filled with a bunch of random things with notes written on them."

"Notes?" Realization dawned on his face.

"Yeah, why?"

"That's probably why your mom mentioned it. There's probably something in there she wants you to find."

Auntie Kate shook her head solemnly, "That was where we found this note." Hope kindled in my heart.

"Still, it's a start!" As I said this the warning bell rang.

"Okay you two get to class, we'll talk more about this later."

Eric held both doors for me. I don't think he realized how nice and wonderful that was, but I did. Still, I kept my eyes down so that he wouldn't be able to see how grateful I was.

For about thirty seconds we walked in silence and then he said, "I don't think your crazy, if that's what you're wondering." I looked up in surprise and he smiled easily back at me. I let my face get hidden in my hair so he couldn't see the goofy grin that made a home on my face. "And I do think we should take a second look at your shoebox."

There was this feeling that spread in my chest. I'm not really sure how to describe it other than by saying it was like a layer of my lonely, protected heart was broken away. It was a nice feeling, sharing the weight of the world; knowing that there was someone else to lean on.

So when that thick fog settled over my head again and clutched at my throat like a black claw, almost parasite-like I was terrified of not being able to tell him that. At first it held onto my voice and throat, and then somehow it controlled my actions.

I could feel the grin leaving my face as I looked up at him again and for the first time realized how much taller than me he really was. My mouth moved without my consent. "What makes you think you're suddenly involved in this?" I fought against my own muscles to try and stop myself before the words left my mouth.

His cocky grin disappeared like a flash of lightning. "Well we just…"

"We just nothing. You must have gotten the wrong idea, but I don't need your help, nor do I want it." I regretted each word as it left my mouth and I tried desperately to show that, since I could no longer say it myself, but I knew that my face was menacing, challenging; protected.

At first he was hurt, but he covered it up pretty quickly; the way I normally would. His eyes narrowed, but it didn't stop my words from tumbling out. "I don't want anything to do with you. I thought that was pretty clear by now." I found the strength to literally bite my tongue at that point. It was like I was possessed. His face clouded and a sinking feeling shook my chest in spirals.

"You know, I really just don't get you. You smile at me one second and the next your pushing me as far away as you can." He wasn't angry, I realized, he was that same shade of hurt he had covered up on his face just a minute before. "I really, really like you Elena, but whatever it is you've got going on, I think you need to figure it out; by yourself." He turned away, not like I had the ability to explain.

The black cloud on my head and throat seemed to lessen with every step he took.

"It wasn't me." I whispered as he walked away, but of course he couldn't hear me. Chewing on my lip, I sternly told myself not to cry before following him at a sizable distance to homeroom.

The rest of the day was one of the those black hole days. I walked around, completely out of body, lost in thought. It occurred to me that something with the black smog was what made it impossible for me to speak my own words. It also occurred to me that there was an eighty-seven percent chance I was going crazy.

I tried really hard not to think about Eric since every time I did, I wanted to scream, and throw something and cry the way I did when my Mom died; endlessly. I didn't talk to him for the rest of the day and I skipped Biology practice so that I wouldn't have to be put into that situation. For some reason, wounding him made me want to crawl into a ball and never come out.

Maybe that's why I didn't come out of my room all night long; why I stared out the window and thought maybe, by some miracle, he would show up at my doorstep with my shoebox, everything forgotten. Maybe that's why I was so disappointed when he never did.

Maybe I should stop living in a fairytale.

_**Sorry it was so late today, but I had work all day AND I had to close up shop too so it was a long, very busy day. But hey, better late than never! I just wanna say thanks to devinwylie, kiaxoxo, Converse r life, and jerry533482, for favoriting, following and reviewing. For a while there I was seriously thinking this story was dead with readers but you guys brought back the hope, and as long as I have one fan, I will keep writing, SO THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!**_

_**Converse r life: This comment was honestly what kept me writing the last couple of days. To be honest YOU gave ME a breath of relief because I really was beginning to doubt this story. Thank you for saying all of those nice things about my story and writing, it really means a lot to me. I really hope you enjoy the rest of this!**_

_**Jerry533482: Well, I am going to try my best to update daily, that's the goal at least, but I'm sure you understand when I say sometimes life gets in the way! I hope you like the rest of the story. **_

_**THANK YOU to every single person reading out there. I LOVE YOU. **_

_**As always, Rate and Review,**_

_**LalaLisa23 xxxx (See You Tomorrow!)**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Part One: Chapter Six**

"Elena."

Soft, warm, glowing light shrouded me in a welcoming embrace. Dreaming, I was dreaming; I was always dreaming. "Mom?"

"Elena, come here." Her voice was able to spread comfort through my chest. It was calming and soothing and it pulled me forward into the abyss of white.

A burst of light blinded my eyes and I reflexively shielded my eyes.

When I opened them again, I was standing in a ballroom with gilded mirrors on every wall and ceilings that rose to unbelievable heights. I was alight with wonder, looking about the room in awe. In the distance there was classical music playing quietly. Taking a step forward, I realized for the first time that I wore a deep pink gown that swept the floor as I walked. My heels made resonating clicks on the elegantly tiled floor as I walked to the center of the room. "Mom?" I called, turning in a circle. My dress twirled with me.

There was no response, but suddenly the room was charged with energy. Small circles of silver light came pouring down from the ceiling like sparkling snow. The balls of light could almost be described as fireflies or little fairies, but they weren't bodies, just a beautiful glow. They fell around me in a mystical freedom, almost cleansing me.

One of the sparks stopped right in front of me. It was larger than the rest and danced around my head. I reached for it hesitantly, surprised when it came closer to my face. In a quick, jutting movement the light thrust itself to my throat. It didn't hurt, I was simply just surprised. I could feel it surrounding my throat but it felt good; again like I was being cleansed. When it detached itself, it took with it the cloudiness that had kept my mind from being _my_ mind and I didn't feel a heaviness over me like I had the day before. The little spark wasn't a pure snow white color anymore, it was black; contaminated.

Understanding dawned on me; it had gotten rid of the rest of the black smog. Like I had feared, the smog had made a home in my body. I felt the control over my actions I had missed the day before coming back. As I did, the little burst of light exploded, taking the rest of the black smog with it.

I was surprised to find my Dad in his usual beat up chair reading when I padded silently down the stairs that morning.

"Good morning, stranger." I said, kissing him lightly on the cheek and then read over his shoulder. As I had originally expected, he was still reading the same book he had started over a year ago. "I wasn't expecting to see you up so early; you've been working too hard, Daddy." I told him evenly. He had been coming home way past one the last few nights.

"I'm sorry, Elena." He said with a sigh, getting up from his chair. "We've been losing so many of our big name customers recently to our competitor and I keep getting pressured to make changes." Nodding like I understood I put on a pot of coffee. My Dad had founded a major corporation when he was only twenty-two that was, as he called it, 'committing itself to the technology of the future while keeping the values of the past'. To be honest, it never really interested me since I could hardly comprehend what exactly the technology was or did. I was more into old-fashioned things. Mostly I just thought of my Dad as a nicer version of Tony Stark from Iron man.

"Well either way, you need to get some rest. You're only human." Handing him a cup of coffee, I went back to work on breakfast. When I'd woken up that morning the fogginess in my head that I had gone to sleep with was gone and I felt as clear-headed as I had in my dream, making me wonder if it really was a dream.

He grunted but said nothing. Not for the first time I wondered what he would say if I told him about all of the things that were happening to me, but sitting there in his chair, reading the same book Mom had picked out for him, I couldn't bear the thought of putting that on him.

"It's his own fault." Eden declared on the drive to school. Her and Elizabeth were commenting on Andy's feelings towards asking her to prom. The thought of Andy, for some strange and inexplicable reason, made me think of Eric and that horribly hurt look on his face. I squeezed my eyes shut and put my fingers to my temples hoping it would somehow shut out their voices.

"I think you might have been a little hard on him." Elizabeth said thoughtfully. The Williams sisters, excluding me of course, were no strangers to boys and relationships. My sisters were beautiful and the fact that there was no shortage of their blonde hair and blue eyes made them a well-known factor at school. Most people had no idea I was related to them. I mean, do you know what kind of statistics lie behind having red hair alone, not to mention being one out of seven sisters to have that red hair while the rest have blonde? My mom always told me I was beautiful, but she had to since she was my Mom. I'd never had a real relationship, mostly because I never felt the need for one.

So these feelings that came with the image of Eric in my mind made me want to jump out of that moving car and run for the hills. It also put an edge on me; something that wanted to make me speak up. "Eden, you know that I love you and that I'm not trying to be mean but," I sucked in a gulp of air, "You don't deserve him."

The silence that accompanied my statement was surely hostile. When we came to a stop in the Starbucks parking lot, she turned slowly to look me in the eye. I sat taller to make up for the few inches shorter I was than everyone else, and leveled with her, not backing down. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I responded automatically. "Andy does so much for you. He's nice and sweet and caring and he would give up everything for you but you treat him like dirt."

She squinted her perfectly lined eyes at me. "Since when did you become such a brat?" She almost spat the last word.

Maybe it was the way I had spoken to Eric the day before, or maybe it was the stress of a situation I didn't understand, but I continued to hold my ground. "I'm just saying that if you keep treating him that way, one of these days he won't want to deal with it anymore, and you'll only have yourself to blame."

After that, neither one of them spoke to me until we got to school, except for the disapproving looks from Elizabeth.

My sisters always described me as someone who was never afraid to say what they thought. Over the past six months, I'd learned to bite my tongue for the sake of others, but saying exactly what I thought to Eden felt good; freeing. I didn't regret it. At least, not until Eden decided to get even.

Andy met us at the front entrance and it was because of his presence that my sisters were able to convince me to sit with them at the picnic tables outside to finish our coffee, not wanting to cause a scene. My legs ached to find Eric and tell him everything. Not just because the black smog was gone and I was able to now, but because I felt this undeniable need to explain that none of what I said was how I truly felt.

I tapped my cup and looked at the darkening sky while listening absent-mindedly to their idle conversation.

"Eric, hey!" Eden called suddenly. I knocked my coffee over in surprise, cursing quietly.

"Whoa, Elena, are you are okay? I'll go get some napkins." Andy got up only to be immediately pulled back down by Eden.

"She's fine." Eden hissed.

"Thanks Andy, I'm okay." I reassured him, eyes on Eric who was moving reluctantly towards our table. His expression gave away his discomfort and it was obvious that he was trying desperately to avoid my burning gaze.

"Sit down." Eden ordered. "I insist." It was then that his eyes finally flicked to mine; only for a second, but it was enough to stir me.

"I can't, sorry, gotta get to class." The way he desperately wanted to leave made my heart sink.

"We have twenty minutes." Elizabeth said, looking down at her phone.

"Sit." The way Eden said it, made it undisputed. Eric grudgingly slid down in between the two. It took all of my strength not to hang my head in my hands. Elizabeth must have told Eden that Eric drove me home on his first day.

"Oh! Have you met our darling little sister Elena yet?" Eden gestured to me. My hand twitched, wanting to reach across the table and slap her.

Eric couldn't help but smile his usual, cocky smile. I could tell he was one of those people who couldn't stay mad for long. "Actually we did meet, but I didn't know she was your sister."

"Most people don't, she looks nothing like us or our other sisters." All eyes were suddenly on me and I couldn't help but squirm under the heat. I locked eyes with Eric, whose own were distant and still reflected that same hurt. "So, Eric, why did you move here? Why the sudden change? I mean, why didn't you come at the beginning of the year instead of two months in?"

"Eden, don't you think that's a little rude?" I spoke up.

"My Dad's business suddenly decided to move out here. I'm not entirely sure why; I didn't ask." H answered anyway.

"What kind of business is your father in?" I couldn't listen to this anymore. Eden was just trying to get under my skin to make me wish I hadn't said what I said, but it wasn't going to work. I stood up and slammed my palms on the table before he could answer, and gathered my stuff, avoiding the puddle of cold cappuccino.

"Where ya going, little sis?" Eden asked innocently. I didn't respond, letting their eyes follow me. "Hey, Elena! We're all down here on earth, come back down from your little daydream and answer me."

"Eric and I have to get to homeroom." I snapped, throwing him a line. I could tell he was grateful by the rapid pace by which he stood. Before I left, I looked Eden dead in the face. "I meant everything I said before and whether or not you believe me doesn't make it any less true. But pulling other people into our fight was a nice touch. It says a lot about who you are, Eden." I spun on my heel before any of them could say anything in return pulling Eric by the wrist along with me. Not caring about the images that crashed into my head.

When I knew they couldn't see us anymore I let go of Eric's wrist, shaking my hand like his touch burned; which it almost did.

I turned to face him suddenly, making him almost run into me by surprise. "We need to talk." I said determinedly. The halls were still mostly empty.

He leaned against a locker casually. "Do we?" His tone was cold. It was like a jab to my heart. How was it that a person I knew, not even for three days, could make me feel this way?

"Can I just explain about yesterday?" I shrunk back, feeling small all of a sudden.

"What's there to explain? You don't want my help. That's fine. So you decide you need to further prove that to me by involving your sisters and stringing me along?"

"No, that's not it at all." I cried, outraged. Didn't he get that I hadn't wanted Eden to do that?"

"Elena! Mr. Schwartz wants to talk to you right away." It was Lily, from show choir. I cursed her silently in my head for interrupting us.

"Oh okay, I'll be right-," But I didn't finish because Eric pushed past me then, abruptly ending our conversation and making me want to scream in frustration.

Most of the day I watched the snow fall and tried not to think about him, but it was harder than I had ever imagined.

When I stumbled into Marine Biology at the end of the day, I didn't greet Auntie Kate or Andy and I wouldn't even glance in Eric's direction. I just looked out the window until the final bell rang at last.

I abandoned my backpack and just moved quickly into Auntie's staff room. She wasn't there; probably in the bathroom. In my head I imagined a scene where I begged Eric to help me and he forgave me but my pride was too big to allow something so desperate.

The door clicked open and I whipped around to see him standing there, bag thrown lazily over one shoulder a bored look strewn across his face.

"Hey." I said, waving because I didn't know what else to say. He shrugged off his bag and sat in my usual spot. I sat across from him. I took a deep breath, startled to find the nervous pounding of butterflies in my stomach.

Without thinking I burst out impulsively. "I want you to help!"

He looked up and scanned my face; searching for something. He still had doubt in those beautifully distracting blue eyes. There was a smile in them, but he tried hard not to let it show.

"Sure you do." He replied.

"I wanted to help from the beginning." My voice was quiet.

"Then why did you…?"

Another ragged breath, "I didn't mean anything I said to you yesterday. And I know you have no reason to believe me when I say that and you probably don't care, but I just wanted you to make sure you knew that." I raced to get it all out and I refused to look up at him until he finally spoke after what felt like hours.

"I'm a busy person you know. I'll have to see if I have time to help." Finally looking up I saw that a huge grin had settled on his face. I shook my head and laughed. The pressure that had been in my head all day finally left and I was so relieved to see that smile.

"So does this mean we're over the weird mood swings and rude comments now?" his tone was hopeful. Suddenly I hated myself.

"Man, I'm just like my sisters, aren't I?" The thought made me slightly nauseous.

"No not really. I'm sure you had a valid reason." It didn't make me feel any better. "Which I don't suppose you want to share?"

I blew a stray strand of my auburn hair out of my hair. "Did you mean it when you said you really like me?" I asked suddenly, surprising even myself. Why would I ask that?

A laugh rumbled in his throat; it was infectious. "So where's that shoebox?" He asked looking around and not meeting my eyes.

"Trying to change the subject? It's right here." I said, standing up and pulling the box off of one of the shelves.

We dug through the box for an hour, laughing at how unspecific and random the little notes were.

"Where is Auntie Kate?" I asked suddenly, it finally dawning on me that she had never showed.

"Oh yeah, I forgot she was supposed to be here." He said, just realizing. I checked my phone and surely, there was a text from her.

"Last minute staff meeting." I confirmed.

He chuckled, "She has a lot of last minute things."

"That's Auntie for you." I picked up another movie ticket stub. "I'll be honest, I have no idea what we're supposed to be looking for."

"I think we'll know when we find it."

"If." I corrected.

"Hasn't anyone ever taught you to dream, Elena Williams?" He met my eyes with a mischievous look.

"I try not to give myself too much false hope." I replied earnestly.

"It's not false until it has a reason to be." His tone was row and honest as he held my gaze. My hand itched to hold his, imagining the warmth of it in mine, but I smushed it down, digging into the box again. "I think the when just happened." Eric said suddenly, holding up a slip of paper.

"How do you know?" I exclaimed coming up close next to him, not realizing until it was too late how close we were. I made sure not to come in contact with him.

"Well everything else was along the lines of tickets, wrappers, receipts, etc. But this is just a piece of paper."

"What does it say?" I asked eagerly.

"I'm not reading this out loud, it's way too cheesy."

"Give it to me." I snatched it from his hand and straightened, reading the note.

'_Love is unconditional. True love creates magic. That magic will guide you, Elena.' _

"Cryptic messages. There's a shocker." Eric snorted. "What's this number at the bottom?" It was a pretty large number with dashes and spaces.

"It means that when you find the love of your life he'll, I don't know, have answers?" He looked up at me and those eyes, those damn eyes, glittered like waves on the sea and made me lose focus. I couldn't even reply since longing clogged my throat. "Can't be me right? I have no idea what this number or any of this means." He joked.

I wanted to say something but a clap of thunder shook the school and took his attention. "We should probably get home before it pours."

"Yeah." I said half-heartedly, glancing again at the strange number before getting up and replacing the shoebox.

"Need a ride?" He asked, an inviting smile on his face. I hesitated.

"I can call my sister." I told him.

"I don't mind." He assured me.

"I really couldn't ask you to do that again." I insisted.

"Okay then don't. Elena, I'm giving you a ride home. Grab your stuff." His tone reeked of fake authority.

I snickered. "Alright."

As we walked to the front entrance we threw around ideas about the number.

"Combination?" I guessed.

"Too long. Phone number?"

"What area code would that be?"

"Switzerland?"

I laughed a genuine laugh. "I'm sure the person who picked up that phone would love our story."

"Maybe a code to a safe?"

"But where's the safe and how can we find it?" He only answered me with silence. "Ugh, this is so annoying." I sighed, for a moment giving in. The already dingy and dim ceiling lights flickered overhead.

"Must be a strong storm." Eric guessed. I nodded, eyeing the light with curiosity. Seconds later, the lights fizzled out completely, darkness protruding from every crevice of the hallway. "Then there's that." His tone was sarcastic.

The darkness was slightly overwhelming, and the quiet of it was unbearable; like we were the only two people in the school, in the world. "Something doesn't feel right." I whispered, almost to myself. And it didn't. The black hallway was what I had imagined the inside of the smog to look like.

"What do you mean?" But I didn't need to answer his question because there was a bang and the deafening crass of millions of shards of glass hitting the ground. Suddenly Eric's hand was in mine, dragging me alongside him, racing to the front entrance. The echo of our pounding footsteps rang around us like a song.

Like I had expected, the glass windows and doors of the front entrance had been shattered into a million tiny pieces. "Be careful." Eric breathed.

"What the hell is going on?" I almost shrieked.

"Maybe we should take another way out."

The overwhelming scent of seawater hit my nose, making it wrinkle and causing my lips to chap in only seconds. The smell was so strong it felt like it was an iron fist closing around my head. A black, ink-like mist blew through the broken window panes, just like in my room. Panic rose to my chest. "Don't breathe it in." The idea of running crossed my mind too late, paralyzed with fear at the sight of purple, bruise colored tendrils snaking through the fog. A scream stuck in my throat as they curled towards me. Little suction cups stuck to bottom.

Something was tugging at my sleeve, pulling at my arm; ordering me to move. I felt out of body, everything moving in slow motion with no sound.

His voice was what broke the barrier. "Elena!" My head was sluggish as it turned to look at him. "Elena, move!" And just like that, the world was moving at its normal pace again. My feet remembered how to move and I ran with him back the way we came.

I almost tripped as we rounded corner after corner. No matter how much distance we put between us and whatever that was, I didn't feel any better.

When the lights blared back on again I jumped and fell to my knees in surprise. Eric was by my side immediately, startled to see me on the ground gasping for breath. We tensed at the sound of a voice clamoring down the hallway.

"It's a good thing we sprung for the backup generator." Principal. Principal Wenley's voice. I blinked rapidly, making sure it wasn't someone else entirely as he ambled down the hall towards us. When he saw us he shouted, "Looks like we got us some late nighters. What are you two doing here so late?"

"Excuse us, sir." Eric said, straightening and turning on the charm. He explained why we were there and what happened, leaving out the whole tendrils thing.

"We've got ourselves quite a storm out there." Principal Wenley observed.

"Yes, sir."

"I'd feel a lot better if I walked you two to your vehicles."

"No!" I shouted, jumping in my spot on the floor.

"Don't worry you'll be safe, Ms. Williams." Eric carefully plucked me off of the floor, giving me a 'we'll talk later' look. Principal Wenley didn't realize that his assurance of my safety was no comfort whatsoever.

_**I'm so sorry for the lack of updates guys. I'll explain myself next time I update as well as reply to your new reviews, but I am totally wiped (woke up at 7 today) and I had an emotionally-exhausting day. Promise to tell you guys next time!**_

_**But let me just say that your reviews kept me writing the entire time I was gone. So keep reviewing and I'll keep writing, you guys are my motivation! I love you! And hopefully how long this chapter was makes up for it some. Idk. Hopefully. Review and tell me if it does. (:**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Part One: Chapter Seven **

The truth is, we didn't really talk that much. Principal Wenley had proceeded to quickly maneuver us around all of the broken glass that was scattered across the lobby floor. Eric had to pull me along against all of my resistance. When I saw that there was nothing but a cold wind coming through the shattered windows and the sound of pouring rain filling the room around us I was able to breathe a sigh of relief, suddenly questioning if I had really seen, whatever it was, at all.

"I'll pull up the car." Eric had said, dashing out the front doors. Looking out at the rain I tried to even my breathing and not to think about all of the things that could happen to him out there alone.

"How are you doing, Elena?" Principal Wenley's voice reminded me that he was still standing there. He was a stout and slightly plump older man with gray hair and a bushy gray mustache to match. With his light brown suit, he looked positively drained of color, but the light in his eyes and smile made up for it.

"I'm okay." I refused to let anything real show. This was just small talk.

"I can only imagine how hard the past few months have been, but I'm glad to see you're maintaining your work ethic. It's very admirable." He kept his eyes forward as he said so.

"Thank you, Mr. Wenley." Eric had pulled up then, hopping out to open the stuck passenger door. He was soaking wet just so I wouldn't have to be. Still I didn't look at him as I climbed into the car.

"Drive safely now kids; it's quite a storm out there."

"You have no idea." I mumbled.

Eric tried really hard to avoid the subject the rest of the drive home, for what reason, I'm not entirely sure. He worked overtime to keep the conversation light and airy. It threw me off and unintentionally made me more nervous than before. The thing was, he had never really seemed like the type of person to avoid a conversation because it was awkward. He faced things head on, it was part of what I liked about him. So by the time we were in front of my house I couldn't help my outburst.

"So are we gonna talk about what happened or…?" Exasperated, I looked him dead in the eyes.

He took a deep breath before answering. "It's not that I don't want to talk about it, I just, don't know what there is to say."

"I just have questions. Like; Why is this happening? What's going on? What was…_that?_ And what are we gonna do about it?"

"I wish I could answer them, but I can't. I don't _have_ answers. But I think this number you're Mom left behind could give us some. She knew more than you think." He was so sure of himself it made my stomach lurch.

"And then what?"

"And then, we'll figure out what to do next. Together. We just have to take baby steps Elena." Together. The word made me want to do a somersault.

...

The next day, I started the day out with a smile; something that hadn't happened in a long time. And while I got ready to go to school I realized how convinced I had become in the last six months that love was something you couldn't get attached to. That all it ever did was break, burn and end. Part of me still believed all of it, but somehow I felt like Eric was changing that.

My Dad always told me growing up that I had entirely too much blind optimism and that was to blame for how easily I got hurt. That was when my Mom would tell him that blind optimism was the only way a human being could survive this world. I'm still not sure who was right, or if either of them were right at all, but I always thought that life was too short not to have a positive outlook on things. Despite how gloomy I had been recently, I still believed that.

Then again, I don't think it was blind optimism that made me start the day with a smile, though. No, it wasn't that at all. Today there was just hope.

"So this number means absolutely nothing to you?" I asked Auntie again.

"Nothing." She insisted, taking a sip from her coffee. I bit my lip and glanced again at the door. "Waiting for someone?"

"Me? No!" An anxious laugh escaped my throat.

"Admit it, you like him! I knew you two would be a perfect match!" She smirked in satisfaction. She could be such a teenager sometimes.

"Actually I was just wondering why he hasn't barged in like he normally does yet." defended. Auntie Kate wasn't convinced.

"He probably just went right to homeroom today. You should get going now anyway." As if on cue, the bell went off.

Yet when I got there, Eric was nowhere to be found. It surprised me how much this upset me. My chest became clogged with anxiety as my mind flashed to the night before; shattered glass, black smoke, tentacles. A shiver ran down my spine as I imagined the worst. The amount of time between the final bell and the first period bell seemed to last only seconds in my mind as I waited for him to show. When the teacher called his name for role my ears perked up, hoping to hear him shuffling around in the back. The idea of sending him a text swept through my mind but then I realized there was no number in my phone _to_ text.

I chewed my nails to a nub that day while worrying and thinking about him. Stupid, I know, but I just couldn't help it.

When lunch came, I sat on the rood and breathed in the snow and the cold, my feet dangling carelessly over the edge.

"All alone today?" I turned at the sudden intrusion of sound to see Brody, lunch in hand, smiling down at me.

"Hey. And yes." I half-smiled.

"Mind if I join you then?" Yes.

"No, go for it." He sat next to me and began to eat.

"Ready for Friday?" He asked. Friday was our show choir competition.

"I think we're pretty ready? Don't you?"

"I didn't think that when Alex's voice broke on that high note yesterday." I couldn't help but picture Mr. Schwartz's face after Alex had done that and a laugh bubbled up out of my throat.

"Poor guy." I got out between laughter.

"He'll get over it." Brody replied.

"Yeah I guess." But even though I couldn't help but laugh, I still felt bad for him.

"So…on Friday, after the competition, do you wanna go out or something?" He tried hard to keep his tone casual.

"Do you mean to the dinner with everyone like always?" I asked back, slightly confused.

"I was thinking more like just you and me." His tone was more hopeful than ever before. Maybe because he thought he had made me laugh, but that hadn't been him, that had been Alex.

"Umm well… I don't think we should break tradition…" Starting uneasily, I tried to bite back the queasy feeling in my stomach.

"Oh those guys won't care."

"Well…"

"Come on it'll be fun! Just you and me."

"My Dad wants me home right after, though. My friend is coming to pick me up so I'll get home on time." I lied unevenly.

"What friend?" His tone suggested he was curious but I detected a note of jealousy.

"Umm…" Did I even have friends anymore besides my sisters on their good days? "Eric." I regretted it the second it came out of my mouth. Why did I say that?

"The new kid?"

I sipped my water to moisten my throat. "Yup."

"You guys are close?" He asked suspiciously.

"Well not yet, but we're becoming really good friends."

Suddenly the door to the roof swung open with a clamor. "Elena! I've got it! I figured it out!" The familiar voice made my chest flood with relief. Eric suddenly took in the scene before him.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." Even in these types of situations he remained considerate and outright kind. I jumped up and ran to his side.

"You figured it out?" I exclaimed. He just flashed his eyes mischievously at me.

"Hey man, I'm Brody." Brody stood up and came over to shake Eric's hand. It was all very masculine.

"Eric, it's nice to meet you." Eric replied with his genuine smile. Brody seemed to be sizing him up, a disgruntled look on his face.

"So you're driving her home tomorrow night?" Brody's words came out as an accusation. I drifted a few steps back, out of of Brody's line of view to nod excessively at Eric.

A puzzled look sat on his face at first but at the sight of me he quickly covered it up. "Yeah."

Brody squinted his eyes at Eric, a frown evident by the lines in his forehead. Suddenly he looked at me. "Well if something comes up, you know I'll always give you a ride home too." He was grasping at nothing more than air.

"Of course I do." I assured him. He gathered up his lunch and started towards the door. "See ya later." When the door closed behind him I turned eagerly towards Eric.

"So?!"

"Well yesterday you accidentally left this in my car," He held up my small book of poetry that I had been reading for the last week or so and checked out from the public library. My cheeks suddenly felt enflamed as I snatched the book from his hand. "And at first I was going to put it in my bag and give it to you today, but then I decided I would have a look at it."

"You like poetry?" I interrupted him.

"I'm not sure I could say exactly that. I have an appreciation for classic American literature, and I've tried to get into poetry but I just can't seem to justify spending hours trying to uncover the meaning of a poem." He wrinkled his nose. That was something he did when he thought of displeasing things.

"Ugh, well, we'll discuss everything wrong with that sentence later. Continue with your story."

"Well, then I decided that if _you_ liked it, then there must be something good about it so I decided to give it a try. While I was reading, I stopped to think and closed the book on my finger. I looked at the cover and saw the library barcode. It was a long shot but I had written down the number on the paper and it was the same number of digits and spaces as the one on the barcode." He got the whole explanation out in one breath. Excitement swelled like a balloon in my chest and I couldn't help but pull him into my arms for a hug. His arms hovered above me, hesitating, before he lowered them and squeezed back. I was suddenly very aware of what I was doing. Relief that he was okay and gratitude washed away my embarrassment and I welcomed the flash of images when it finally came after about thirty seconds with open arms.

"Thank you." I told him and then pulled back. "Where have you been? I thought you might have been, you know, sucked up by a cloud of black smog." Trying to joke, I hoped that my anxiety didn't show.

Still, he caught on. "Worried?"

"Maybe a little." I admitted, still holding onto his wrist and it tickled with electricity. He looked down at our hands.

"Doesn't it…?" He began, but I stopped him.

"It's fine." But I did pull my hand away.

"I was late because I tried to stop by the library before school, but it didn't open until nine. I decided I could afford to skip first period but when they finally opened, there was no one anywhere to help me find the book. I really wanted to find it today so I started to randomly pick up books from different sections hoping to pick up some sort of pattern but all I ended up doing was wasting time." We sat down where Brody and I had been sitting only minutes before, which of course made him remember. "So what was that?" He asked, pointing towards the door.

I ignored him. "So you didn't find the book?"

"Nope. Who was that guy?" I detected displeasure by the way he wrinkled his nose again, something he hadn't let show when Brody had shaken hands with him.

"Then maybe we should go to the library together. You know, and actually ask someone for help. Everything is digital there, they should be able to just enter the number into the computer and come up with the book." Hoping avoiding the subject would make him drop it, I surged on.

"Yeah, we should. Maybe today, after school?" My heart sank.

"I can't today, I have something after school." I didn't particularly want to broach that subject either.

"Oh okay. What about tomorrow night then?" It physically hurt me to say no.

"Tomorrow's not good either. I won't be in school. I'll be, uh, out of state actually."

"But didn't that Brody guy say something about tomorrow night and driving you home?" Now I was mentally slapping myself for bringing back both subjects at once.

"What about Saturday?" I asked, chewing on a chip. "I'm free all day on Saturday."

"Elena!" He finally interrupted. "Can you stop changing the subject and just tell me what's going on?" He was just exasperated now.

"Nothing."

"Elena."

I took a deep breath. "It's stupid."

"I'll bet you it's not stupid at all." His reassuring smile made it easier to be honest. So I finally came out with it all. I told him about show choir, and how Mr. Schwartz kept saying I was 'essential' to the team which was the only thing that kept me from quitting. I told him about the competition and me and Brody's duet.

"Brody's been asking me out since I joined last year, but I just, I hardly even like him as a friend, let alone a boyfriend." I explained how he had asked me again while we were sitting there just minutes ago and the crap excuse I gave him.

"So I'm the friend driving you home?" He asked curiously.

I nodded, taking a bite of my sandwich.

"Why me?" He was genuinely surprised.

"Because you're the only friend I could think of." I answered honestly and smiled.

"That's kind of sad considering you've only known me for four days."

"It is, isn't it?"

"I'm beyond honored." He looked directly into my eyes, almost piercing them.

"You should be. I don't offer my friendship a lot anymore." I picked at my sandwich, not looking up to see his reaction.

"Maybe you should." It was the second time he had been so quiet and strong and honest. It was a fleeting moment, but I was grateful for it. "So, show choir, huh?"

I groaned and rolled my eyes. "I knew I shouldn't have told you."

"So you sing?" I nodded. "Are you good?" I snorted and didn't dignify that question with an answer. "Will you sing for me?"

"Absolutely not."

"What? But you can't just tell me you sing and then not sing for me!" He whined.

"Yes I can."

After a second of silent pouting he gave in. "Fine. So I'll pick you up from school on Friday night when you get back and then on Saturday we'll go to the library."

It occurred to me how much time we would be spending together. "I hope you don't get too sick of me."

"No way, I'm already excited. Give me your number for our date." He pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"Date?" There was a flutter in my chest.

"Yup. You're swapping Brody for me." There was that cocky grin again. To be honest, it didn't sound bad at all.

_**YAY A DATE. Please continue onward for part two of what I like to call MELSIBGSLU. (My Extremely Long Sorry I've Been Gone So Long Update) and a nice little author's note at the end! (:**_


	9. Chapter 9

**Part One: Chapter Eight**

I began to keep a log about everything that was happening. It started with the name; Ariel. I wrote down every strange dream I had had, everything I had seen or heard when Eric touched me. The way he seemed to be connected to it all. The letter, the locket, the note, the shoebox, the visions. I kept it all down on paper so I could read it over and over again to find some way they all aligned.

On Friday morning I honestly wished I was heading to homeroom instead of boarding the school bus. I sighed audibly as I climbed the steps and sat down towards the front. People filtered in and sat around me, engaging me in idle conversation. I laughed and smiled when I was supposed to and pretended I was okay with everything. This definitely wasn't the right mood to win a competition in.

My phone buzzed twice and I retrieved it from my pocket.

I was sure that everyone could hear my heart about to spring from my chest when I saw who it was from.

Break some legs today with that singing voice you won't let me hear. I'll be waiting when you get home.

I didn't miss a beat.

Well breaking the competition's legs will help for sure.

I know how bad it was, but I stared at my phone for five whole minutes until the bus started moving out of the parking lot and Brody, Alex, and Lily started talking to me again. Every few minutes I checked my phone until I eventually turned it off, not wanting to feel desperate.

In the dressing room at the theatre, I, along with all of the other girls got dressed in our deep blue satin dresses. They cut just above the knee and were puffed with matching tulle underneath. There was a sash of the same color that tied in the back with a big bow and the matching fitted bodice was a halter that exposed a triangle of my chest and the top half of my back. They were gorgeous as far as show choir dresses go.

"So are you really going out with Brody?" Lily asked me suddenly while tying my halter.

"No. Where did you hear that?" I asked, trying not to be outraged.

"Brody said you guys were going out tonight when we got back." She said matter-of-factly.

"Well he was lying. I'm not interested in Brody." I replied.

"That's too bad cuz he's definitely interested in you."

"Yeah, I'm aware."

Mr. Schwartz eventually gathered us in the hallway and warmed us up doing tongue twisters and scales.

"Are you ready, you two?" Mr. Schwartz asked me and Brody. I nodded but my hands were shaking and butterflies made my stomach flip flop. My voice stuck in my throat and Brody clapped his hands over my shaking ones.

...

The day carried on like molasses coming out of a jar. I wasn't focused or into what I was doing at all. I thought for sure it would show, but as soon as we were finished performing, Mr. Schwartz and the rest of the choir congratulating me. My head just wasn't in it.

When they finally started announcing the awards I was beyond ready to go home. I almost told the judges to pick someone else for highest overall soloist, because I sure as heck didn't deserve it, but I didn't. I held the trophy and smiled.

I was vaguely aware of being lifted into the air and onto the shoulders of Alex and Brody who were also holding a first place trophy and all-expense paid tickets to New York for Nationals.

Getting changed and packed up as quickly as possible, I proceeded to linger in the hallways, impatiently awaiting the rest of the group, when I felt the smallest of taps on my shoulder.

I turned to see a beautiful girl, definitely older than me, standing behind me. She looked like she was in college and had long, ink black hair that curled at the bottom. Her eyes were dark, endless pits. She was wearing a fitted, tight black and deep purple dress that hugged her curves. At first glance she was endearing, but upon closer inspection there was something menacing about her.

"You're Elena, right? Elena Williams?" Her voice was slightly raspy, like she had been smoking.

"Yes that's me. Can I help you?" I asked politely.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you!" She stuck out her hand and I reluctantly grabbed it. It was slick and clammy like she had been sweating but there was no evidence that she had.

"I'm sorry, do I…?"

"You're singing voice is just…" She trailed off as if racking her brain for the right words. "There are simply no adjectives to describe how sublime it is. Congratulations!" So she was just someone who felt it was her personal duty to congratulate a total stranger?

"Thank you very much, I truly appreciate it." I tried really hard to sound sincere but I was just so, done.

The girl's eyes glinted and caught the light almost menacingly. "You should. You should really appreciate the full scale of your amazing voice. After all, you never know when you might lose it."

For a second I was astonished beyond words, and then I was able to say something. "Excuse me?" But the girl was already turning away, her huge heels clicking against the floor as her dress swayed beneath her. "Wait, who are you?" I called after her. "What do you know?" Because something in my heart told me this wasn't just some friendly fan. Right then, Lily was at my elbow.

"Who are you shouting at?" She asked curiously.

"That girl. The one in the black dress and huge heels." I said, pointing at her disappearing figure in the crowd.

"I don't see anyone."

"She's right there."

"There's no one in a black dress, Elena." But I could see her still.

"You can't see her?" I asked feverishly.

"Are you feeling okay?" She replied, feeling my forehead. Suddenly feeling sick I didn't look at her.

"I'm not sure I am."

...

We sang the entire way home. Well, they sang, I stared at my trophy and continued to count down the minutes until I would see Eric. When we pulled into the school parking lot, Mr. Schwartz gave us some crap speech about having our fun this weekend and being ready for hard work come Monday. As soon as the bus stopped I darted off, not waiting for his reply. I searched the lot in the dim streetlights, but the crappy purple scion was nowhere to be found. It was then that I noticed the familiar metal glint of Andy's junk car.

I approached the car evenly, trying to keep my cool. Eden hopped out of the passenger seat as I got closer.

"Elena get in the car, we need to talk."

"Where's Eric?"

"Andy and I called him and told him not to come." Eden answered.

Suddenly outraged I replied with malice. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"Get in the car and we'll talk."

"I'll get in the car when you answer me."

With a sigh, Eden silently agreed. "Elizabeth told me earlier that Brody had told her that the new kid Eric was picking you up tonight and taking you home."

"Okay?" Anger was pulsing through me. This was the only thing I had wanted all day long, and my sisters had snatched it away without my consent, without my knowledge.

"You don't know who Eric is, Elena. You don't know the things I know about him." Eden reasoned, her voice almost desperate.

"According to what?" I shouted, "Some stupid made up rumors floating around school?"

"Elena will you just listen to me?" Eden snapped.

"No. I won't. Because for once since Mom died, I feel _something._ I've found something to let me know that my heart is still inside of my chest and it makes me _happy._ So, no. I will not let you take that away from me." I yanked the car door open and climbed in before jamming my headphones into my ears and blasting music the rest of the way home. When we got there, I locked myself in my room before Eden had a chance to say anything, crawled into bed, and hung onto the promise of tomorrow and Eric before falling into a dreamless sleep.

...

When I woke up the next morning, my first thought was everything happening that day. I rolled over onto my side and saw that the clock said 9:34. Two hours and twenty-six minutes left until Eric would be here. Eric.

All of my memories of the night before came flooding back and something wrenched inside of me at the thought of the way I had spoken to Eden and the way she had acted. I was grateful to remember that Eden was on a family outing with Andy and his family all day long and wouldn't be home until late that night. Swinging my legs over the side of my bed, I began to start my day.

I couldn't help but jump in joy when the doorbell finally rang. I had been trying to keep myself busy for the last half hour, unsuccessfully. Grabbing my purse and keys, I yanked the door open to reveal the handsome face I had been waiting for.

"Hey." He said brightly, waving slightly.

"Hi there." The smile I shot at him was easy and natural.

"So, to the library we go?"

Shutting the door behind me, I laughed. "Yup."

...

Our community library was huge for small town standards and filled with tons of dusty old books, but only a select few were from this century.

Eric and I were like two little ants that crept up to the huge front desk. At first, there was no one to be seen, and then there was a tiny tinkling voice that sounded from behind the desk.

"Oh where is it?" Ouch!"

"Are you okay?" I asked hesitantly. A head bobbed up from beneath the desk before revealing the girl who spoke. She was beautiful. That was the only way to really describe her. She had wavy brown hair that fell just past her shoulders and bright blue eyes that lit up behind her glasses as she focused on us. She looked about our age.

"Oh! You're Elena!" She said suddenly. This took me by surprise.

"Yeah. Have we met?"

"I go to Ridgeview too." My perplexed look must have made her want to say more, "I'm in your study hall." I felt horrible at first but after she said study hall I understood.

"That explains why you don't look familiar! I'm always grocery shopping online for my Dad in study hall."

Eric was trying desperately to hold back his laughter. "Grocery shopping?"

"Shut up." I grumbled, playfully slapping his arm. "So you are…?" I asked, turning my attention back to the girl.

"Bryana Gold. You can call me Bree, though."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Eric." Eric extended a hand.

"I know." She blushed, taking his hand. Anger shifted inside of me that I somehow couldn't push down. "So is there something I can help you guys with?"

"Yeah, we have this number. We think it's a barcode for a book and were wondering if there was any way you could find it?" I explained, handing her a slip of paper with the number on it.

"Should be easy enough." Bree replied, typing something in the computer before taking the slip from my hand. Seconds ticked by, and then minutes before she finally said something. "Here it is!" I was all too eager. "Oh, it's in the West Wing." Her voice was almost a whisper.

"Where's the West Wing?" I asked happily.

"Well, I call it the West Wing because it's on the West side of the building but, it's also the restricted section."

"There's a restricted section in a public library?"

"Well it's not so much restricted as protected. The books in that section are super old and delicate. They only let certain people in there and likewise, certain people check the books out. You have to be 'trusted' in the library system. It's weird, I know, but you can only check out a book out from the West Wing if you have a good reputation with the library." She was already typing something into the computer. "I'll check to see if you're elegible now."

I felt like I was being sworn into a secret club of some sort. Eric and I exchanged a playful smile while we waited. He looked so easy-going in his faded jeans and light green V-neck. His eyes wandered around the room with his arms crossed and a faint smile. I couldn't help the fluttery feeling I got in my heart as I stared silently up at him from underneath my lashes.

On the car ride over, I caught him up on everything he missed. Including the strange girl who had approached me at the competition and the way Eden acted, minus all of the horrible things he said about Eric.

"Did you consider that maybe the girl was someone from another school you'll be competing with and that she's just trying to shake you up?" He had suggested.

"Maybe." But I tried my best to shrug off his suggestion. There was something we weren't getting, but if that girl meant to shake me up, she succeeded. Just not in the way she might have meant to.

Bree broke me from my reverie. "Okay we're good to go." She said it with so much enthusiasm that I couldn't help but smile.

We followed her down the hall where she led us to a locked door marked, EMPLOYEES ONLY. She unlocked the door to reveal another, slimmer hallway. "This is where it gets really cool." At the end of this hallway, there was a heavy wooden door that revealed a spiral metal staircase.

Climbing the stairs, I couldn't help but feel like the air was charged with magic. At the top where a heavy door lay, my breath caught as Bree moved it to reveal the smallest room I had ever seen filled to the ceiling with shelves stocked with books. Old and worn and covered with dust, but that didn't make it any less cool. Bree knew exactly where she was going and headed to a shelf on a wall across from the door. I followed close behind in total awe. Her fingers ran lightly across the spines of the books, as if they were her best friends. "We're not really supposed to let people in here, but I have the overwhelming feeling that I can trust you two."

But just like that, I wasn't paying attention anymore. My mother's locket, which only seconds ago had lain cooly against my skin and neck, was now in the air, filling the space around me with a soft yellow light. Shock closed off my body to motion until I saw Eric's equal look of disbelief. The glow was warm and enchanting, but also terrifying. Eric nudged me and I became aware of the fact that locket, along with itself, was pulling me closer to Bree. She had her back to us and was thankfully blissfully oblivious.

With a flash of movement the locket was off my neck and stuffed in my pocket where I held it there with too much effort. Eric and I exchanged a look that proved we weren't crazy.

"Here it is!" Bree plucked a small, time worn book carefully off of the shelf. "Aww! I love this story!" She turned to face us and held out the book for us to see.

"The Little Mermaid?" Eric handled the delicate book carefully in his hands.

"A Disney book? This is what my Mom left behind for me to find?" Disbelief settled in my heart. We must've gotten something wrong.

"You're Mom?" Bree asked.

"She was the one who gave me the number. In a letter she wrote before she passed away. But now I'm starting to think this isn't what she wanted me to find."

"Well for those books we don't use the electronic system to check them out, since so few do. There should be a book card," her hands flipped through the pages quickly, turning to the back of the book. "Yup, just like I thought." Bree handed me the card.

The edges were worn with time an there was small script all over it, but at the bottom of the card written in a delicate hand was what I had been looking for. "My mother did check this book out." Squinting at the scrawl I was able to make out the date. "A week before she…" I trailed off, letting the silence fill the holes.

"Did you want to check it out?" Bree was hesitant.

"What's the point? It's just some stupid book." The edge in my voice was rough.

"I think you should. We already know your Mom liked to leave strange clues, this is just another one of them." Eric protested, trying to reason with me.

Shaking my head I started towards the stairs, pulling out my locket as I went. It wasn't glowing anymore.

"Elena, come on! Seriously, don't freak out." Eric caught my arm.

"I'm not freaking out, I just don't want that stupid book." My eyes wouldn't meet his.

"At this point it's not like it'll hurt us to check it out." He wouldn't let go of my arm until I finally looked into those deep blue eyes and resolve dissolved in seconds.

"Fine. We'll get the goddamn book." I mumbled.

I kept a distance as Bree checked out the book for me. Eric made small talk with her so that I could wander around in circles, bitter at the thought of the stupid clue that my Mom had left behind.

"I promise you that Elena didn't mean to act that way." Eric said quietly, my ears perking up at the sound of my name on his lips.

"I figured the thought of her Mom was probably still very overwhelming." Bree's response, to my surprise, was not filled with pity. It was genuine with a hint of worry. It was…refreshing.

"Yeah it seems like it." Eric seemed distracted.

"You've known each other less than a week and you're already able to tell when she's acting out of character?" Bree's voice suddenly shifted to light and taunting.

Eric seemed to be taken aback, words not coming to the surface. Their voice lowered even further and the conversation, much like my head at that moment, was lost.

I gingerly stepped towards the desk, "Thank you, Bree. For all of your help." I said quietly.

"Oh it was my pleasure." The smile that lit her face was enchanting. "And besides, I know you'll love that book!"

"I already do." Taking the book from her hands I marched out of the library quickly, not willing to elaborate.

_**HELLO PEOPLE OF THE FANFICTION UNIVERSE. This is my gift to everyone who reviewed, followed and favorite during my overextended vacation. To be honest, I was really just lost with this story for the last few weeks. Really, it was my own fault because the last four or so chapters were written months ago and it was hard for me to get into something I wrote months and months ago. That may not make sense but its 12:42 in the morning and I usually don't make sense around this time of night/morning. Anyways THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, for the continued support through my lull and I promise I have another update coming by the end of the weekend for my faithful followers! **_

_**I LOVE YOU GUYS TO THE MOON AND BACK!**_

_**Love, Love, Love, **_

_**LalaLisa23**_

_**PS: Tell me what you think in a review please! (:**_


	10. Chapter 10

**Part One: Chapter Nine**

The world was a blur as we raced by in Eric's car. It was nice to think of it as a race to an unknown finish line, one that we were winning at that moment. He wouldn't tell me where we were going, but continued to pursue the subject of my interests besides singing.

"I love the beach."

"Sort of a strange place to live and love the beach." Said Eric.

"You're telling me. The closest, real beaches to Denver are the ones on the coast of California. Imperial Beach, one of my favorites, is at the very bottom of California, verging on the border of Mexico. It's about seventeen hours and twelve minutes away depending on traffic over a distance of one thousand and ninety miles."

"You memorized that?" He asked in disbelief.

"Sure. One day I'll live on the beach just steps away from the water. I'll be able to wake up every morning and see the sun coming up over the water, painting the world alive. But it's got to be a beach that gets cold in the winter. That's always been one of my silly pipe dreams."

He chuckled heartily. "You're so-"

"Strange?" I offered.

"Actually I was going to say you're so different than anyone I've ever met before." He glanced sideways at me, causing my heart to skip a beat. "So did you have anywhere in mind?"

"Cape May." I answered automatically, almost sheepishly.

"New Jersey?"

"Yup. I've seen pictures and it's really beautiful there."

"You've never actually been?"

"No. By car it's about a one day and five hour drive over a distance of one thousand, eight hundred and forty miles. Have you?" I asked curiously.

"Nope. I just think it's odd that you want to move somewhere you've never been before." He wasn't judging me, just genuinely curious.

"Every year, when we were little, my parents used to let us pick three of our names out of hat each time we were picking where to go for vacation. The three names that came out of the hat each got to pick a place they would like to go and everyone else would vote for which one they wanted to go to. Every time I got picked out of the hat I would suggest Cape May, and sometimes it would even win, but every time my parents would overrule it. There were so many of us that it would be too difficult to try and fly there and too much to handle if we were to drive." Relaying my story, I tried to keep my voice indifferent.

"So many of you?" He questioned.

"I have six sisters."

"Six? That's a big family!"

"Makes traveling difficult." I grumbled.

"I have a feeling you'll get to Cape May someday soon." Eric seemed so sure.

"Yeah okay. The only way I'm getting there soon is if I drive myself and leave without telling my Dad."

"So why don't we?" He asked honestly.

I turned to look at him like he was absolutely insane. "What?"

"Elena, we're in high school. I'm pretty sure it's written somewhere that every once in a while we're supposed to disobey our authority figures, ditch school and do something stupid." Eric had become so animated and excited that I couldn't help but smile.

"I'm pretty sure your beauty of a car wouldn't make it." My hand tapped the roof lovingly. Over the last few days I had grown strangely affectionate towards its growling, dying engine roar and beat up interior.

"So maybe today isn't the best time to go but I promise you, before winter is over, we'll be there." He was so sincere.

I bit my lip in confusion. Why did he do that? Why did he act like he would stop the world if it made you happy? I didn't ask him that though. I just tried to hide my tiny smile and said, "Okay." And before he could say anything in return I said, "So where are we going anyway?"

"Please, be patient!" He exclaimed trying to be serious, focused on the road. I laughed at him and for once didn't try to hide it. His eyes were full of happiness and his own laughter as he joined in. I just wanted to freeze the picture and save it to be played back over and over again.

Seconds later, our destination came into view, the ground beneath the tires turning from dirt to sand. Eric stopped, parked, and turned off the ignition, sitting back in his seat. "We're here."

We were staring at a huge expanse of sand and just beyond it an equally huge body of water. He was out of the car before I could say anything, racing to my side of the car and wrenching the door open.

"We're at a lake." I stated matter-of-factly as he took my hand and pulled me from the car. Ignoring the tingling sensation of our touching hands, I looked into his eyes without shame, refusing to pull them apart.

"The closest thing to a beach in the winter when you're living in the middle of Colorado." He smiled, squeezing my hand and sending ripples of electricity through me. My heart raced.

"How did you…?" I trailed off.

"My first day. When we met, you told me you've lived in Colorado your whole life and loved the snow almost as much as you loved the beach in the winter. I just assumed you had actually been to a beach in the winter."

Suddenly my cheeks and forehead were ablaze with embarrassment. Casting my eyes downward I mumbled quietly, almost inaudibly. "Thank you."

Instead of answering he pulled me along across the deserted sand until we were right at the edge of the water. He laid down the blanket he had been carrying, sitting down and gesturing for me to follow.

Taking my seat and yanking my shoes off, I dipped my toes in the water. The chill in the air continued to sweep through my hair but it didn't discomfort me. Tasting the cold on my skin, I snuck another look at Eric who was silently flipping through the practically destroyed copy of the Little Mermaid.

"You're not gonna find anything."

He looked up at me, a mischievous smile lighting his face. Something inside of me did a little cartwheel. "You never know."

"It's just my Mom trying to be sentimental. It was my favorite book growing up." There was nothing in my tone that suggested how I felt about it now.

"That sort of explains your love of beaches doesn't it?" He was putting the pieces of my life together in his head, calculating. All of a sudden he shut the book closed with a loud whack and tossed it onto the blanket.

"If you wanna look for clues you don't have to stop because I think there's nothing there." Suddenly overwhelmed with the feeling I had offended him, I tried to encourage him.

"There's time for that later. Why would I waste the time I have with you, right here, right now." The raw honesty of his words made a flush crawl onto my cheeks and I squirmed a little under his heated gaze.

"True." It came out as a breath still stuck in my throat but he heard it. Reaching for my hand he kept his eyes locked on mine, unmoving. The wave of pure desire crashed over me like a ton of bricks. I was so entranced that after thirty seconds, the electricity and images that came with his touch surprised me for the first time in days and I couldn't help my startled jump.

He quickly drew his hand away. "Sorry, I keep forgetting." There was disappointment apparent in his tone as he cast his eyes away.

"No it's okay. I've actually been, I've been thinking about it a lot." I started hesitantly.

"What do you mean?" He asked, angling himself towards me and sitting up straighter.

"Well," I ventured, "When I first met you, just looking at you made those…these images rise up in my head and when we touched for the first time, it was like a floodgate had opened, spilling out tons of pictures way too fast and blurrily to be even remotely comprehensible. But the longer we touched the slower and clearer they became." I paused then to draw a breath. "And then I noticed, the more we touched, the longer it would take each time for the images to come."

I could almost see the gears in Eric's head turning. "So you think that it's basically like a drug addiction?" My confused look forced him to explain. "Substance abusers, when they're hooked, have to use more or different drugs each additional time they use to get the same effect. They build up a tolerance to it, so you're suggesting that you've built up a tolerance to my, well to my touch."

Eyes flashing I tried desperately to fight down the blush that crept up my neck. "Yeah I guess that's what I'm saying." My voice shook as I struggled to get the words out.

His hand was suddenly gripping mine giving it a squeeze and waiting for me to confirm something. The electricity was there but no images. After about a minute I decided they weren't coming.

"What about this?" He asked softly, brushing his fingertips across my cheek bone before tucking my hair behind my ear. I gasped in surprise but the images did not come for fifteen, sixteen, seventeen seconds and even then they were fleeting. I told him so.

He shuffled even closer, and I didn't protest, only inches from me now. The space between us was charged with electricity that seemed like it would ignite at any second. The flecks of gold in his eyes became clearly evident the closer he got. "And this?" His voice was so gentle, like the delicate caress of a feather against my skin. A shiver of pleasure racked through me. He let his hand linger at the base of my neck only to trail it across my jaw to my lips. The images came quicker at his touch on my lips. My eyes closed just a bit to better see them and also because of the feelings he stirred inside of me. The longing to draw him closer was undeniable. Maybe he felt it too, for when I opened my eyes, he was even closer than before.

"Maybe," At first I was nervous to voice idea but then I ventured anyway, "Maybe we should—"

"Kiss?" The word hung there, like an unspoken promise. I bit my lip in hesitation, wondering if he felt everything I was feeling. "For experimental purposes." He added quickly. My heart sunk to the bottom of my stomach and stayed there. I sat back and turned away, looking out at the water. It was strange how fleeting a moment could be.

He seemed to sense the shift in my mood, letting his hand fall. The sudden tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. It was like being jerked awake from the greatest dream you've ever had.

"Your mom." He burst out randomly. I shot him a questioning look. "All of this is about your mom, but up until today I had no idea…"

"That she's dead?" I finished. Not harshly or with malice, but without any emotion in my tone at all. He nodded, not saying anything. "Up until today I though you could just read my mind, I guess. It never occurred to me that you had no inkling of what had happened."

"I didn't want to—"

"Bring it up. Make me talk about it. No one ever wants to." I interrupted him again.

"Will you tell me what happened?"

I gulped down a lungful of air. "It's been six months, twenty-one days and" I checked my phone, "twelve hours since she's been gone." For a second, I wasn't sure how to go on. "She was fine. Totally fine. And then one day, she feinted right in front of us. Fell right to the ground. When we took her to the hospital, they couldn't find anything wrong with her, and wrote it off as stress and over-working herself which was ludicrous since she was a stay at home Mom. They promised us she would wake up as good as new. But when she finally did, she was even worse than we had imagined. Feverish and not quite sure what was going on." My voice caught and the tears threatened, something that hadn't happened in a long time. I tried desperately to choke them back down. "The doctors decided to keep her for analysis, since they no longer could come up with an explanation. Those three days were the hardest part for my Dad. He wouldn't leave the waiting room and whenever we were allowed to see her, he was there with smiles and reassurances. No matter how sick she got, my Dad always seemed to be able to bring back the light I remembered in her eyes, if only for a little bit. He could make her smile and sometimes even laugh. When she laughed, she looked the way I had remembered her."

I closed my eyes now and tried to focus on the words rather than the insistent pain in my chest. "She passed away in her sleep two days after she was admitted for analysis. They," I choked down a sob, not meeting Eric's eyes, "They couldn't come up with any disease, sickness, or explanation for how quickly it happened. There was no movie scene where she held my hand and told me how much she loved me before falling into a permanent sleep. She was just, gone. I woke up and she was gone." I couldn't let the tears that turned my eyes glassy fall.

Eric didn't say anything; he just reached out and twined his hands through mine. I couldn't bring myself to look at him, afraid of what I would see there; pity, and a distant yearning to be out of this situation.

"Elena." He said it like it was his favorite word. "It's okay to cry." The statement came out like a soft embrace. He made me look up at him, despite my protests.

In those beautiful blue eyes was nothing but affection, and pain. Like it hurt him to hear about this. To see me like this.

"I'm not going to cry." Still my throat was rough.

"I could see it in your eyes the first day. Like the weight on your shoulders was way too big for just you to hold. And I see it now. You try to keep it in. Because you have to worry about your Dad, about your sisters. Because you think that if everyone else is crying, how can you cry? Who will be the glue if all of you cry, right?"

Eric was pushing me to a proverbial edge, and I still wasn't completely sure he would be there to catch me if I fell. "I—"

"You've held all of them while they cried, haven't you? But what about you? Whose held you, Elena?" I couldn't find anything to respond with. He was right. I hadn't realized it until now. My breathing became quicker, panicked. _Please don't cry. Please don't cry. _

"But you don't have to hold it in anymore, Elena. I will always, always, be here. So now it's your turn. Let me hold you while you cry."

Something inside of me broke; snapped in two. At first, the single tear I had been trying to keep in slid down my cheek in a saltwater track. It was the quickly followed by a sob that racked my chest and tore through my throat. It was strangled and desperate and heart-breaking. I wrapped my arms around myself protectively, curling into a ball as the tears overflowed and coated my face with salt. Eric pulled me into his arms and cradled me as I cried and cried and cried, clutching onto his shirt like it was all I had in the world. He didn't say anything; but then again he didn't need to. In the little actions of rocking me and raking his hands through my hair I could feel exactly what he had told me. That he wasn't going anywhere. I had fallen over the edge and for once I didn't have to save myself; he was there waiting to catch me. He was home.

It came in waves. Once for all of the tears I had kept in until now. Twice for my Mom. Three times for how much I missed her. When I finally started to calm down, Eric's shirt front was soaked with tears and my throat felt raw and tight. The loud sobs gradually turned into whimpers, and the whimpers turned into single tears every few seconds and then the tears turned into sniffles. I laid my head on Eric's chest and closed my eyes until I felt like myself again. Sneaking a peek up at him, I caught him looking down at me and cleared my throat. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

At that, he caught my head in his hands gently. "Don't ever apologize for something like that." We were so close, his hands tingling against my cheek.

I wanted to kiss him. Maybe he could see that in his expression. Maybe he knew what I wanted him to do. Maybe he was as breathless as I was.

"Remember how I said if we kissed, it would be for experimental purposes?" His whisper was a quiet breath on my skin. I nodded, a smile twitching the corners of my mouth. "The truth is, I've wanted to kiss you since the day I met you." My breath came quicker now, my heart racing. "Is it okay if I do?"

"I thought you'd never ask." I replied, pulling him to me instantly. Our lips met in a wonderful burst of electricity; my body melting against his and ringing with desire. I let my hands tangle through his hair and his arms wound delicately around my waist, pulling me even closer. His lips were like a drug as they moved against mine and the rest of the world faded away to a blur. He was gentle at first but then his kisses became more fierce as if I was about to disappear. It was perfect and I didn't want it to end.

But then, I heard the resonating crash of waves breaking on the shore. Pulling away abruptly, I took in the scene around me. Eric and I were still sitting in the sand, but now we were in a little rock alley, one that looked to be a sort of divot in a tan, rocky cliff. The sky overhead was now a crystal blue without a single cloud in sight in exchange for the overcast sky that had previously been there only seconds before. I could see the foaming waves of the ocean and smell the salt clear and strong in the air.

"What is going on?" My hand rested at Eric's neck and his on my waist. We were still so close.

"The kiss!" He exclaimed, jumping up suddenly. "We must be in one of your visions!"

Horror claimed my expression. "How will we get out?" I asked anxiously, but before he could answer there was a soft whistle, a distant voice sounded.

"You look great kid, you look sensational." It was a raspy and almost obnoxious voice that was unseen to the eye, but came clearly from behind the cluster of boulders at the water's edge, about a hundred yards in front of us. A tiny red head of hair bobbed up from behind them, wobbling slightly. It was a girl. The voice was followed by an insistent barking coming from another direction but growing closer with every bark.

The girl jumped in surprise at the sound and ran around the rocks frantically before climbing up onto a big one on wobbly and unsteady legs. She was wearing what looked like a dirty old table cloth, but it was tied at just the right angles that it accentuated her figure. Her face from the place we were sitting, was shrouded in the shadows of the cliff, and it stayed that way.

Just then, the dog came into view. He was half the size of the girl and covered in white and gray shaggy hair that hid its friendly eyes. The dog circled the boulder where the auburn haired girl was perched and barked loudly. Suddenly with the force from his front paws, he climbed up onto the boulder and planted a huge sloppy kiss on the girls face.

"Max!" The dog pulled away quickly at the mention of his name. The voice which called from some unseen location was familiar and sent a warm feeling running through my veins.

"This isn't one of my visions." I said suddenly, realization dawning.

"What do you mean?" Eric turned to me.

I looked up at him, "This is a scene from the Little Mermaid."

"Max?" The voice sounded again. "Quiet Max!" The boy that belonged to the voice was dressed in a white shirt and black pants and he was trying desperately to calm down his dog who was circling him excitedly while taking looks over at the girl every few seconds. "What's gotten into you fella?" I couldn't shake the feeling that the voice was too familiar. It was then that the boy caught sight of the girl on the rock. Prince Eric and the Little Mermaid, Princess Ariel. "Oh." He breathed. "Oh, I see." The dog darted back to the girl.

Neither of their faces were quite visible, but I could remember them anyway from the movies. Prince Eric moved closer, while Ariel fixed her hair hurriedly. "Are you okay miss? Sorry if this knucklehead scared you." He laughed, standing next to the boulder now and scratching Max's head lovingly. Ariel was leaning closer. "He's harmless really."

Right then, Prince Eric looked up at Ariel and for the first time into her eyes. It had always been my favorite part. It was like everything else in the world had fallen away and there was just her. I had always wondered what it felt like to be looked at that way.

"You, seem very familiar to me." He said, putting his hand to his chin in wonder. "Have we met?"

Ariel began nodding her head ferociously and vigorously, a huge smile lighting her face. Max began barking in excitement, but Prince Eric just ignored him.

"We have met! I knew it! You're the one!" He exclaimed, taking her hands in his. Ariel was beaming. "The one I've been looking for. What's your name?" He asked eagerly.

Ariel began to say something, but nothing came out. As if remembering, a sad expression spread across her face like wildfire.

"What's wrong? What is it?" Prince Eric asked.

Ariel tapped her throat sadly.

"You can't speak?" She shook her head.

"Oh." Prince Eric was beyond disappointed. Pulling away he mumbled, "Then you couldn't be who I thought."

Ariel was distraught, blowing a strand of hair out of her face.

"I don't understand, why are we in the story?" Eric whispered in my ear.

"I don't know. I'm just as lost as you." I replied quietly.

Suddenly getting some sort of idea, Ariel began to make crazy hand gestures, animatedly trying to explain herself. "What? What is it?" Prince Eric asked. Ariel gestured to her throat. "You're, you're hurt?" She shook her head, visually saying no. "No…no." Eric was thinking. "You need help?" At that exact moment Ariel fell forward in a flop off of the boulder and into Eric's arms. "Woah!" He exclaimed, catching her in surprise. "Careful. Careful, easy." They were only inches apart now. I could almost feel the heat as they stared into each other's eyes. "Gee you must've really been through something. Don't worry, don't worry. I'll help you. Come on, you'll be okay." He put his arm around her shoulders and held her up protectively. She glanced back at the space behind the rocks where I supposed Flounder and Scuttle and Sebastian were. Prince Eric steered them back the way he'd come. As they turned, their faces came into full view of the light and I could see them clearly.

"Oh my God." Eric breathed, so quiet that I almost thought I had imagined it. The scenery around us flickered and disappeared like a glitch in a hologram or simulation game. The lake view was back around us and the overcast sky had been restored, but at that second I hardly noticed. There was a haunting image printed to the back of my eyelids.

The Prince, his arms wrapped comfortingly around her and their faces evident in the sunlight. Eric. My Eric. It was him, with his arms wrapped around the girl. He had been the Prince. The face I had been waiting to see since the scene started was one I had become so used to over the course of six days and suddenly the voice attached to it seemed so familiar because it was his.

And the girl wrapped in his arms…

"Elena." Eric's voice was at my ear, calming. "I understand now what your Mom was trying to tell us." I wanted to push him away; block the sound out of my ears so I wouldn't have to be told what I knew in my heart was the truth. "I'm the Prince." He drew in an unsteady breath, "And you're the Little Mermaid."

_**Wow, so that was a big reveal. I hope you all liked it, I hope it surprised some of you. I hope you understand. I hope you let me know what you think. And I hope you continue to read because you guys are the people I write for. This isn't just a story for me, in my little journal anymore. This is for all of you, too! Thank you all for the continued support, it was the only way I was able to push on. **_

_**Part One is over, but where will Part Two lead? I'll see you guys in a few days!**_

_**Love, Love, Love,**_

_**LalaLisa23 (:**_


End file.
